


A College Education

by Super_Luthor



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluffy, Future Sam and Lena, Kara and Lena are both university lecturers, Soft Supercorp, Temporary, Temporary Death, a secret gets exposed, they fall in love, they meet for the first time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-08-10 02:09:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 29,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16461452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Super_Luthor/pseuds/Super_Luthor
Summary: Kara and Lena meet each other at a university. Kara is still Supergirl but is a lecturer at a university while Lena is a guest Lecturer Slow-burn





	1. The First Meeting

As she walked through the campus on Monday morning, she pulled her coat around herself, trying to keep the biting cold away. It was already twenty-past eight. She got up really early just to make sure she got to her class soon. It was her first day as a lecturer at Lincoln University, National City.

Considering this was a city, it was very quiet for a Monday morning.

Eventually she made it to the Jane Austen building, where her first lecture of the day was taking part. She thought the name of the building was odd, considering she taught science and technical science. Once she made it into the building, the air conditioner blew down warm air on her. That was welcomed.

As she made her way over to the small cafeteria, she saw a blonde woman in glasses with a smile on her face as she was waiting for what she had ordered. The blonde must have been making conversation with the woman behind the counter.

The blonde was wearing far more less than her, a white T-Shirt with an art print on it, accompanied by a red cardigan and blue jeans. What struck her was the way that the blonde spotted her instantly.

“Hey!” The blonde smiled at the raven-haired woman, “You look very cold. It’s late October, it’s to be expected. Are you new here? I haven’t seen you before around here.”

“I-Yes, I am.” The woman replied, a little bewildered, “And yes, it’s mighty cold for this time of the year. I’m Lena by the way.”

“Kara Danvers.” The blonde smiled, holding out a hand for her to shake.

Lena gratefully shook her hand with a smile, “Are you always this happy in a morning?”

“Well.” Kara shrugged, “It’s best to be happy than sad, I also think that if I’m happy that the students will feel warmth and it’ll encourage them to do work. We all know how all of them hate Monday mornings so I’m like a light of positivity.” She smiled, before pausing, “Would you like a coffee? You look like you need something to warm you up. I’ll pay, it’s not a problem.”

“Oh-Thank you.” Lena smiled, “So what do you teach?” She asked after she made the order.

“I teach journalism here, and I work at Catco. What about you? What’s your specialised subject?” Kara asked politely.

“Oh, I teach technical sciences. I own L-Corp.”

Kara’s eyes widened dramatically, “No way! You’re Lena Luthor.”

“The one and only.” Lena chuckled, “I must say, to say you have just found out my name, you don’t seem at all horrified.”

Kara picked up their coffees and passed Lena hers.

“Thank you.” Lena said softly, following Kara to a table.

As they sat down, Kara leaned forward, “What your brother did was his fault. I don’t see why you should be judged for something that you didn’t do. And from what I have seen over the past two years, L-Corp is a force for good. I think it’s great that you are trying to move away from that past and bring the business forward into a brighter light.”

“Thank you.” Lena smiled, looking down at her Styrofoam cup of coffee, “So, you know an awful lot about L-Corp, why would that be?”

“Well.” Kara laughed nervously, “While I have an interest in literary, I also am very interested in science. And what you do for the aliens of this city is amazing.”

“Why am I teaching in the Jane Austen building?” Lena asked quickly.

“Oh, um, they do that sometimes. They just randomly choose where people teach. I work upstairs in my office in JA3004. The third floor.”

“Hang on, so you work here as a lecturer and at Catco? How do you juggle the two?” Lena asked her.

“Right back at you. Are you a guest lecturer?”

Lena nodded, “I have an office here though but it’s in another building and I don’t understand why they gave me an office if I’m only going to be here every three weeks.”

Kara frowned, “Me too. So, where is your office?”

“Ah, mine is just past the Argo building…Why is it called that?” Lena asked with a frown.

“I got the chance to rename it one day and I…Chose that name.” Kara said, fidgeting with her glasses, “It’s a part of where I called home many years ago.”

“And where are you from?” Lena asked, “I mean, if you don’t mind telling me.”

“It’s uh…A very small town…Um outside Midvale.”

Lena nodded slowly, “Oh, is it nice there?”

Kara smiled sheepishly, “Yeah, it was very nice…It was a beautiful place. It’s not there anymore now…They destroyed it and turned it into flat land.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Lena said softly.

“It’s no one’s fault, well, other than the stupid council.” Kara laughed sheepishly. She then looked at her watch, “We have ten more minutes. So, what made you come here?”

“I wanted to teach young people about L-Corp and what L-Corp is really about. It’s great, just to teach people that not all aliens are bad. They just want a home just like the rest of us, you know?”

Kara nodded slowly, “I do.”

“How long have you worked here Kara?”

“Two years and it has been the best two years ever.” She smiled as she saw one of her students walk in.

“Morning Kara.” The young girl smiled at her, “I looked at the reading for the seminar later and it’s incredible.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.” Kara smiled, “How are you today Nia?”

“Tired.” She laughed, “But I did have a great night last night.”

“Reading or drinking?” Kara asked her with a smile.

“Reading, obviously.” Nia laughed, “And maybe a little drinking.”

“I’ll see you in class, okay Nia?” Kara smiled.

“See you Kara.” She said before leaving.

“Wow.” Lena said to Kara, seeming amazed, “You really do have a good relationship with you students.”

“As long as they do their work and they enjoy it, what can I say?” Kara chuckled, “Well, I hope to see you at some point today.” She said as she got up.

“Upstairs, right? JA3004?” Lena asked as she stood.

“Yep.” Kara smiled, “I’ll be there at lunch if you want to drop by.”

“I’d love to.” Lena smiled, “Catch you later Kara.”

“You too Lena.” Kara beamed before leaving.


	2. Hold The Line

“Jane Austen was an incredible writer, I think you’ll all agree.” Kara was standing in the middle of the room looking up on her students, giving a lecture on Jane Austen, with a powerpoint lit up behind her with a painting of the author herself. As Kara looked up, at the very back of the class, she noticed someone else coming in.

Kara’s smile significantly brightened when she realised who it was. She remembered the red coat, the lipstick and the dress that made her go weak at the knees. Or was it her smile? Kara began to think about that before noticing a hand raised in the left side of the row.

“Um, yes.” Kara gasped abruptly, “Nia, go ahead.”

“While Jane Austen was an incredible writer, where do you think the idea for Pride and Prejudice came from?” Nia asked, getting a few snickers from some people in the class.

Kara glared at them, “If you guys think that the question was funny, I’d like to know why. This is a journalism class and while yes, this part of the module may not be crucial to journalism particularly, but it provides insight into writing itself. We examine it, pull it apart and ask questions. That is what this job is about and if you don’t like it, I’d suggest changing classes.” She growled, before shifting her glasses on her face. She briefly glanced at Lena and her legs went to jelly once again. Seriously, she had to get a grip of herself.

“And to answer your question Nia, I think the idea came from maybe personal experiences or inspiration she found around her or in her day to day life. Any story can come from anywhere, and that’s what is key. However, swiftly moving to more journalistic stuff. Thank you, Nia for your question.” Kara then pressed a button on her remote, going to the next slide. She blushed when she realised that the slide was about L-Corp moving to National City. As Kara looked back up, she saw Lena crossing both her arms and her legs.

This would be interesting.

“So.” Kara said after a brief silence, “What can you tell me about this? I wrote this article myself. I chose this because I found this to be one of the best that I had written at Catco by far and I won’t lie, I’d actually love to get more insight into L-Corp and maybe an interview with Lena herself, maybe she isn’t as bad as her brother, or maybe she is nothing like him at all.” Kara glanced up at Lena and gave her a sheepish yet reassuring smile. She knew that Lena wasn’t Lex, she could tell from this morning that the two were not alike at all. Going by the way Lena smiled in return, Kara knew she had that interview.

“The argument is fair.” One student began, getting Kara out of her trance. As Kara looked up, she looked at who answered her question.

“Carter.” Kara began, crossing her arms, “What makes you think that? Remember guys, there is no right or wrong. It’s your opinion that matters, but of course with your opinion comes the courtesy of respecting whom or what you are talking about.”

“It’s fair because you don’t just make it a one-sided argument. That would make it bias. You talk about Luthor as a woman who you believe to be kind and you explain how she may be here to start anew. But you’ve also analysed your sources well, I mean, you have Supergirl’s input too. You can’t get any better than that.”

Kara glanced down at her watch, “Thank you Carter and thank you everyone.” She smiled, “I will see you all bright and early on Wednesday. Remember to read what I have set, look online and you will find it there. Thank you.”

As everyone began leaving, Kara disconnected her laptop from the mains and put it away along with the other bits and pieces she had.

After everyone had left, there was only her and Lena left in this big room. Lena stood from where she was sitting at the back of the class and began to walk down the stairs with a coffee in hand, “That lecture was interesting, and so was that article. I had no idea that you have written about L-Corp before and yes, I will give you an interview for two reasons.”

As Kara looked up, Lena was in very close proximity. _Very_ close.

Kara gulped, before laughing, “I’m sorry I-I should have told you about…That.”

“Is there anything else you need to tell me about?” Lena asked her, clearly hinting towards something.

Kara cocked her head to the side, “Are you…Are you coming onto me?”

Lena shrugged her shoulders, “Well, we have only just met but I can tell that you’re into me. You should be asking yourself if I’m into you.”

_Oh Rao._

“Well.” Kara said bluntly, “Are you into me?” She then shook her head, “You’re the one coming onto me.”

“Wow, love really is blind.” Lena chuckled, before backing off. Kara really wished she didn’t. She wanted to kiss her right there and then.

“Do you have any more lectures today?” Lena asked Kara.

“No actually, I have a little work to do for Catco and…”

“Do you want to go for a drink?” Lena asked her, those baby blue eyes did something to her. She had no idea what, but she wanted Kara more than anything.

“Now?” Kara asked.

“I was thinking tonight, after work. Or, we could go back to my place and order food. If you want to.”

“I would love nothing more.” Kara replied in a low voice with a small smile, “And I tell you what.” She said after taking a breath, “We could always put on a movie, order food, drink and see where the night takes us.”

“I like that idea.” Lena smiled, “So, it’s lunch time now…Do you want to have lunch with me too?”

“Well, I won’t object to a very attractive woman like yourself.”

“Kara.” Lena mocked, “Okay.” She laughed, “Let’s go.”


	3. Broken Strings

Kara was setting up for a seminar two days later. She stood at the front desk, typing away on her computer when her phone beeped. The blonde looked down and smiled at it before hearing the door open. She frowned and wondered who it was, but used her super hearing to listen for anything suspicious.

Two grown men, looking to be in their thirties and wearing leather jackets walked in. One was clean shaven, around six feet tall with a head of grey hair whilst the other was slightly shorter with stubble and spiked brown hair.

Kara crossed her arms, getting defensive. She shifted her glasses on her face nervously, “May I help you gentlemen?” She asked them, “I have a seminar in ten minutes, but I’m guessing you are not students or you may need guiding in the right direction.”

The tallest of the men scoffed, laughing, “Nah.” He said, shaking his head, “I think we are in the right place. Tell me Ma’am, do you know where Lena Luthor is?”

“Miss Luthor works at L-Corp and this is a university. Why would she be here?” Kara tried lying her way out of it, before one of them pulled out a newspaper with a headline about Lena moving to teach at the local university.

Crap.

“Okay, why would I know her and why would I care?” She laughed, trying to worm her way out of it. She had no idea how to get out of this situation. She tried to think of numerous ways out of the situation and quickly looked up as a door opened at the back of the class.

It was Nia. Kara’s heart was beating ten times faster now. She looked up and then saw them point their guns at the now terrified student.

“Kara?!” Nia gasped, looking at her lecturer. She then looked to her for help.

Kara’s eyes were going between both Nia and the gunmen.

“We have leverage, _Kara.”_ The grey-haired man spat, before glaring at Nia, “You. Get down here now. If you try to run, we’ll shoot you.”

Kara looked up at Nia and nodded slowly, “Just come down, okay? You’ll be okay.” Kara tried to sound confident, but she had no way of getting out of this without Nia finding out that she was Supergirl. She glared at the two men so hard that if she wasn’t wearing her glasses, she knew her heat vision would activate.

Once Nia was by Kara’s side, she got in front of her, “I’ll be damned if you hurt her. We don’t know anything about Lena Luthor or where she works on campus, it’s a big place.”

“But you’re all staff!” The other man spat before aiming his gun at Nia.  
  
Kara tore off her glasses, “I wouldn’t!” She growled, truly getting pissed. At this point, she didn’t care about her identity. She was not going to let Nia get hurt.

The grey-haired man laughed, “Oh yeah, and what will you do?”

“Kara.” A worried Nia gasped.

Kara briefly looked back at her, “They aren’t going to hurt you, alright?” She then turned her attention to the men before her, “We don’t know Lena Luthor okay? Just go in peace before something bad happens.”

“Oh yeah, like what?” The guy spat, raising his gun.

Just as Kara was about to rip open her shirt, she watched the two men fall to the floor, unconscious.

Kara and Nia were both in shock, but Kara was more in shock because she didn’t hear the door open at all. From the darkness emerged Lena, holding a tranquilizer gun.

“Are you two alright?” The Luthor asked as she walked down the stairs.

Kara nodded quickly before answering, “I…Yes, thank you for that.”

Lena looked down on the two men with pure hatred in her eyes, “No one is going to hurt  anyone, especially you two.” Lena then glanced at Nia who appeared speechless, “Nia, right?”

Nia nodded slowly, “I-You shot them.”

“With a tranquilizer dart. I’ve alerted the police, they will be in their custody soon, you’re going to be alright Kara and I will protect you.” Her voice was so soft and soothing, it made something tick inside of Nia. The young girl soon found herself holding back tears and before she could collect her thoughts, her mouth ran away with her, “It’s been so long since I’ve heard the pair of you or even seen you together.”

Both Kara and Lena frowned at her, “What?” They both said in unison.

Nia’s eyes widened, and she clamped her hand to her mouth, “Well uh…” She said quickly, “I guess today’s seminar is cancelled.” She then knew she had to find a way out of her, especially now she had let something slip, “I gotta go…” She said, before exiting the room quickly, leaving both Kara and Lena more than a little confused.

“Uh-she must be confused.” Kara said quickly, laughing, trying to relieve the tension that was now between them both, “I mean.” She shrugged, “Two gunmen came in here and frightened her.” Kara knew there was more to this, but if there was, she couldn’t let Lena know that she had ways of finding this out.

Lena, however, didn’t brush it off, “No…That wasn’t just some off-handed comment…” She frowned as Kara put her glasses back on, “Can you talk to her for me and try to find out what she meant? This will confuse me for the rest of the month if I don’t find out. Because to me…” Lena paused, “That sounded like a lot more has happened with us than just our friendship in the future.”

Suddenly, Lena was no longer flirty, and it unsettled Kara quite a lot. Yes, they flirted for fun all the time, but neither of them imagined anything that Nia could have suggested that her and Lena were once or will be a thing in the future. Neither of them imagined that, well not now.

After dinner a couple of days ago, Lena and Kara mentioned how perhaps being friends is better than being an item, but right here in this moment, neither of them were certain of what would or could happen in the future or past.

“I should go.” Lena said, startling the both of them out of their thoughts.

Kara wanted to say something so badly, but no words surfaced. Instead, she just nodded and managed to say something, “I’ll help the police with this.”

Lena smiled sadly. She then turned on her heel and headed out.

In that moment, Kara was gobsmacked and a little mortified.

\--

Tw hours later, Kara sat at her desk in the university, wanting to write an email to Nia, but she doubted that the girl would reply. Instead, she just nervously tapped her foot on the leg of her desk, deciding on what to do with the information that her possible daughter from the future is here in the present.

The Kryptonian let out a huge sigh, putting her head in her hands, only looking up when she heard a tentative knock on the door. When she looked up, her hands were still on her cheeks, but she quickly removed them when she saw Nia in the doorway, looking nervous, a smile plastered itself onto her face and she appeared a lot more confident on the outside while on the inside, her world was crumbling apart, “Nia! Please, take a seat.” She said, pointing at the chair in front of her desk.

Nia nodded slowly and closed the door. When she turned to face Kara, she could see that Kara was pretending to be confident like nothing happened a couple of hours ago.

“You want to know what happened earlier.” Nia began, taking a deep breath, “The secret I let slip. It’s been nagging at you for the last couple of hours and probably will until you find out.”

Kara’s confident exterior now crumbled, “I…” She began, nervously placing a hand on the frame of her glasses, “I can’t say that I haven’t stopped thinking about it…I’ve been thinking about it quite a lot about it actually. What did you mean by it?”

“First of all, if Lena wasn’t there we could have both been toast. You should have defended us no matter what.” Nia said to her, suddenly getting defensive.

“You know who I am.” Kara breathed out, this confirmed her suspicions.

“The point being, I came here to tell you the truth.” Nia said to her, “I…I am your daughter…”

Kara paled significantly at this, suddenly finding it hard to swallow.

Nia then shrugged, “I should have helped you too…In the past or future….I am a hero, like you and like…Mom.”

“Mom being, Lena?” Kara asked nervously.

Nia nodded slowly.

“Rao.” Kara gasped, information sending her in a whirl, “Why…” She leaned forward, “Why tell me now?”

“Because in the future something…” Nia paused, “Something happens.”

“To us? Lena? Me? Who?”

“There is all out war on both sides of the Atlantic. It wasn’t alien against humans or vice versa. It was more humans and dictatorship that caused the war, a war that you started.”  
  
Kara laughed nervously, “A war that I started? Nia, I am many things but I would never-“

“A version of you. There will be a Russian version of you hidden away somewhere and she brings the world to its knees. The only reason I am here is because you-future you, gave me this.” She said, pulling out a small button from her pocket, “We call it a world jumper, but mom-Lena…She changed it, so I was able to travel here because she knew I’d be safe.”

“And the future?” Kara asked.

“It’s still going to happen.” Nia nodded slowly, “Yes, now I’ve told you, you will try anything to stop it. Nothing can Kara. I’m sorry, but one day you’ll have me, and you will lose your future wife and all the world because of something that you cannot stop.”

Kara felt incredibly threatened, fighting back both tears and fear that was lodged in her throat, “How do I know that you aren’t lying? Lena and I have only just met, and we…we can’t be a thing.” She laughed nervously at that.

“You flirted the very first day you met, didn’t you?” Nia said pointedly, making Kara blush.

“That has nothing to do with it.”

“That has everything to do with it.” Nia said sternly, “In the next couple of months, you will be the talk of not just this city, but this world. I really shouldn’t be telling you this. I should just let it happen, but I couldn’t keep this to myself.”

“You really weren’t lying-aren’t.” Kara scorned herself, “You aren’t lying.”

In that moment, there was a knock on the door. Nia was not surprised to see that it was Lena on the other side.

“What do I tell her?” Kara asked as she saw Nia stand.

“It was a mistake-or the truth…I mean, you’re not good at that in the future while you’re pregnant either.” She sighed.

Kara frowned, confused about that statement too, but watched her leave anyway.

Lena looked at Kara and could see the confusion on her face, “What just happened?”

Kara waited until the door closed before she spoke. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she watched Lena sit down before replying, “We need to talk.”


	4. Two Hearts

Kara and Lena had been sitting in a tense silence for about five minutes. Kara told Lena what Nia had told her and now Kara was sure that there was a rift between them. The only part that she left out was that she was Supergirl. That would risk Lena’s safety, she couldn’t do that.

 

“There’s a Russian version of Supergirl that causes war in the future? Kara, do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?” Lena laughed, “You and me, we are _friends._ We won’t ever be anything more than that. Yes, we flirted when we first met but you made clear the other day that you and I wouldn’t and can’t be anything more.” Lena said this more like a statement and somehow Kara felt her heart break in her chest. Going by Kara’s silence, Lena could tell that something was wrong, “Can we?”

Kara shrugged her shoulders, “We live in a world where aliens exist, we can’t be narrow-minded and say that time travel doesn’t, I mean, we’ve both seen Doctor Who.” She said, pointedly, “And we also live in a world where aliens and humans exist together so why the hell not?”

“Because at this point in time, time travel should be nearly impossible.” Lena laughed nervously, almost snapping. She looked at Kara, incredulous, “Yeah-this isn’t-“

“In our time, time travel isn’t possible, but in her time, we gave her the key to come back here.” Kara sounded urgent this time.

“But why Kara?” Lena snapped, “You and I are nothing special and we certainly cannot be in a relationship and before you ask why-“  Lena calmed herself, “I’m a Luthor and I came here to work. I never should have gotten this close to you. It’s only been a couple of days and it feels like I’ve known you for years.” She smiled to herself, “I should just resign from here. This is my place of work and you are everywhere I turn.”

Kara bit her lip, “I get that this is a lot of information, believe me you have no idea-“

“The girl is unhinged.” Lena said sternly, “Why would you believe such ridiculous stories?”

“I-“  Kara began, “I have seen many things in my very short life and I believe her because she is such a straight headed girl. She knows what she wants out of life and everything she said sounded true and then she showed me the world jumper- I can’t not believe her.” She stared at Lena, and Lena stared back at her.

“Okay…” Lena sighed, “Who is the ‘mom’ of this relationship?”

“She referred to you as mom a lot when we talked and to be fair, she is like a mixture of us both.” Kara shrugged, “But she seemed to refer to you quite a lot as mom, but I don’t know if that’s because I did something wrong in the future…” She then remembered how Nia mentioned that things went wrong when one of them were pregnant. Kara swallowed the lump in her throat, _why would she ever cheat on Lena?_

She was snapped out of her thoughts when Lena laughed, “You can’t do any wrong.”

“We’re all human.” Kara said sheepishly.

Lena nodded slowly before looking up at the clock, “I have a lecture to give, Supergirl will be there. I guess I will see you later.”

Kara nodded slowly, “I’ll see you later.”

\--

 

As Kara was walking home later that night, she clutched her bag harder as she thought about what Nia said. Yes, she loved Lena, but not to that extent. Not yet anyway. As she got deeper into her thoughts, the road seemed to get quieter. Something then occurred to her, was she the one who was pregnant or was it Lena?

She was startled out of her thoughts as she saw Nia sat with one person on a bench that she didn’t expect. She wanted to just carry on walking and forget that today had even happened, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t ignore her daughter, not that she knew she existed. Winn was sat beside her, cradling a Styrofoam cup of some sort of hot beverage.

Winn’s eyes lit up when he saw Kara, “Hey Kara! I was on my way home when this one stopped me and asked where you lived. She said she knew you, so we just went to the coffee shop and got some hot chocolate with doughnuts, don’t worry though.” He said quickly, “We got you three doughnuts too!”  
  
Kara smiled sheepishly, “Thank you Winn.” Kara said quietly, staring over his shoulder at Nia.

Winn frowned, looking between the two. “Kara, do you want me to stay?” He asked quietly.

Kara shook her head, “Thank you though.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Winn asked, “It’s quiet at the DEO without you there.”

“I’ll be there.” Kara smiled, “I’ll see you.”

“Okay.” Winn smiled before looking back at Nia, “It was nice talking to you.”

Nia smiled, “You too, goodbye Winn.”

With that, Winn walked away. Kara stared at Nia, before speaking, “Come on.” With that, she carried on walking, leaving Nia to catch up with her.

“You’re going a bit too fast.” Nia said to her, struggling to keep up. Kara automatically slowed her pace, “I’m not showing you into my home because I have no idea who you are. Lena suddenly feels insecure; our friendship is compromised.”

“Did you tell her you were Supergirl?” Nia asked her. Kara clamped her mouth shut, before having her against a wall, “Why are you here?”

Nia stared at her, suddenly feeling a little scared, “I came here to get to know you.” She blurted out. This caused Kara to freeze, “Wait…Earlier today you said that it’s been a while since you saw Lena and I talk. You implied that we were together…” Kara frowned, “Okay, what the hell happens in the future?! You will tell me here and you will tell me _now.”_

Nia’s heart was in her mouth. She shook her head, “I can’t-I can’t tell you that.”

“Why not? You’ve told me that Lena and I are together in the future and just now you told me that you came here to get to know me. Is that why you came to National City?!” Kara snapped.

“I came to this time to get to know you and to be safe. The future is terrifying.” Nia said nervously, noticing that there were hardly any traffic and people on the streets, “The amount or lack of people and cars on this street is unnerving.”

“You-nevermind that.” Kara hissed, “Why here? Why let that one small detail slip?”

“It was an accident!” Nia snapped, “You weren’t there growing up, okay?! I never knew you. I wanted to know what you were like and now I look at you, you seem like a jackass.”

Kara took a step back, and she went quiet, “Why weren’t I there for you? Why?”

“Secrets and lies.” Nia shrugged, “I learned that mom couldn’t trust you because you hid being Supergirl! She couldn’t trust you! And yet, she was pregnant with your child!”

Kara was taken aback, “I could tell her now.”

“And risk me not being born?” Nia said pointedly, “That wouldn’t be a good idea.”

Kara swallowed hard, and shook her head, “She can’t stop me seeing you. I’m your mom.” She started to pace back and forth, “I wouldn’t give up on either of you.”

“I don’t know how she stops you, she just does.” Nia said, “Apparently you tried a few times, but eventually you stopped until the war was declared. Then you turned up on the doorstep and told us to get safety. I did, you were there.” She smiled sadly, “In your Supergirl outfit, and mom looked at you with a mix of hatred and love in her eyes. Once you thought we were safe and inside a bunker…A Neutron accelerator activated inside L-Corp. We would have been safe from the blast, and we were. Mom…” She began, fighting back tears.

Kara shook her head, not wanting to hear the truth, “She wouldn’t. If her priorities were right she would have stayed with you. She would have _protected you.”_ She said through gritted teeth as he eyes filled with tears.

“You seem like you know her pretty well.” Nia said to Kara, “You have only known her for a few days and you would protect her without a second thought.”

“Because I love her as a friend. All people do is judge her because of what Lex did. They shouldn’t.” Kara said quietly, “And I don’t care what you say, I would never abandon any child of mine!” She snapped, “Now if you don’t mind I have a family game night. I’ll see you in class and we never speak of this again.”

“Mom-“ Nia gasped, trying to go after her.

Kara whipped around and glared at her, “Don’t.” She said sternly, “Just don’t.” With that, she carried on walking away.

Nia bit her trembling lip and looked resigned. She watched Kara carry on walking before heading in the opposite direction to her the woman she called mother in this world.

Down in the alley, stood Lena. She held her phone in her hand having recorded every single word that was said between the two of them. She was beyond shocked. She couldn’t comprehend Kara being Supergirl, she couldn’t understand why Kara would stop trying after a few times to fight for her daughter and lastly, she didn’t understand why she would walk head-on into death herself.

A drop of water hit the screen of her phone and Lena quickly realised that it was her own tears, she was crying and right at this moment, she didn’t understand why, but what she did understand is that she had a daughter who needed her now more than anything, but she couldn’t do anything about it.


	5. Everlasting Love

“As we can see, technology sciences have come a very long way in a short space of time, let’s see.” Lena was giving a lecture in front of a glass with a PowerPoint lit up behind her. She pressed the button on her remote and briefly glanced at what was behind her, “So” She began, “In the 1980’s, the very early 1980’s and if we want exact dates, January 1st, 1983 was where researches began to assemble the internet and then in 1990, that was when it became the recognisable form. If we move on to, oh I don’t know. Phones. First they were funny devices and soon became wireless and then you had the notable brands and brick phones.” She then smiled at the thought, “The phones a lot of people saw as _indestructible_ unlike some of the mobile phones that we have today which seem flimsy and break easily. I could go on and on about these technological advances in our everyday lives, the ones that we know about, but what about the ones we don’t?”

She then clicked a button and went onto the next slide, “We live in a society where both humans and aliens exist with one another and while some people have these awful views of aliens.”

 _Like your brother._ She heard someone say at the back of the class, but merely brushed it off and carried on.

“I recently invented something that can give aliens piece of mind, they can make themselves look human to blend into our society. As much as I myself believe this to be something they shouldn’t have to do because we all share the same planet, most feel more comfortable or safe that way and I have to help with that and yes while all of you know what my brother did, believe me.” She said sternly, “I’m not like that. If I was, I wouldn’t be here…Teaching all of you.” She zoned out for a moment, before coming back to reality, “L-Corp is a force for good and nothing more or less.”

Lena looked down at her watch and saw the time, “That’s all for now. Should you need this, it is online and so is the reading for next week. Thank you.”

With that, the students began packing away, as did Lena.

Lena picked up her phone and saw a message from none other than Kara.

Kara: _I’m at your office, I brought lunch. I hope you don’t mind._

Lena chose not to respond to the message, packing her bag. On her way out, she stopped at the cafeteria, “Could I get a Latte to go for Supergirl?” She asked, earning a frown from the woman behind the counter.

“It’s a nickname for a friend.” Lena smiled, before the woman laughed, “Is she special to you then?”

Lena thought about that. She knew in the future they could be, but she knew a lot of information that she shouldn’t, but she nodded, “Yeah, she is.”

As Lena waited, she had no idea what she was doing, all she knew was that she knew the truth and despite overhearing last night Kara saying she would never abandon her daughter, she did just that with the way she turned, walking away and the way she told Nia to forget about it as if nothing had happened or was said between them.

Lena didn’t think that was right, and maybe it was her mother instinct, but she wanted to protect Nia from anyone ever hurting her and so she decided to do that.

Once Lena paid for the Latte, she headed up to her office. As she walked in Kara turned around with a smile plastered on her face, “Hey!” She beamed, “I sent you a message, did you get it?”

Lena smiled, putting her bag down, “Yeah, I just had to do some stuff before coming up here.” As she walked back over, she passed the Latte to Kara, “For you.” She said as she walked to the other side of her desk and sat down.

“Thank you.” Kara beamed, before looking at the name on the cup. This made Kara feel so many different nerves at once, “Supergirl?” She laughed nervously, “I think you picked up the wrong cup.”

“Oh, I think I picked up the right one.” Lena said sternly, “ _Kara.”_

Kara gulped and sighed, “You know.”

“I also know that you would abandon our daughter.” Lena replied coolly, “Last night in the ally, I heard the pair of you talking and then you just walked away. If I know you at all, you would never do that, not to anyone.”

“Lena-“ Kara began before Lena interrupted her.

“You _walked_ away when she tried to reach out to you. You had a family game night and she wasn’t invited when she is your family. From what I understand Kara, in the future, I left her, and she never saw me again. The only reason I can imagine myself turning on you, so she wouldn’t see you is because you lied through your back teeth about Supergirl and then I found out the truth. I may have thought that she was crazy but after what I heard last night…How can I not believe her?”

Kara was sat in complete silence, fighting back tears that she felt coming, “Lena, she could be anyone.”

“And you never denied being Supergirl. She is our child Kara and I am not going to let you hurt her. Not now, not ever, do you understand me?” Lena almost snapped.

“She’s not our daughter Lena-I…She can’t be. I don’t even think about you like that, not now.” Kara’s eyes widened when she realised what she said.

Even Lena’s façade slipped slightly, “Not now?” She asked, “Are you implying that you had feelings before?”

“I’m not implying anything.” Kara laughed nervously, “You know what? I should just go.” She said, grabbing her bag only to have Lena stand up and walk over to her, “You don’t need to go Kara, you just need to know that I will never let anyone hurt my daughter.” She walked closer to her, until they were mere inches apart.

Kara blushed heavily, “I know.” She smiled nervously, locking eyes with her. Lena followed Kara’s gaze and they were soon on each other’s lips, locked in a very slow but passionate kiss. Lena’s hands came up to Kara’s cheeks while she kissed her with as much passion as she could muster.

Kara dropped her bag on the floor, getting lost in the kiss. The two of them abruptly pulled apart when there was a knock on the door.

Kara sorted her dishevelled shirt and got her bearings together as Lena went to open the door. Both women seemed shocked when Nia was stood there on the other side.

Nia looked between the two, “Am I disturbing something? I-I can come back later.”

Lena and Kara briefly glanced at each other.

“I was going.” Kara said quickly.

“I’ll see you later Kara.” Lena said to her as she left.

Nia gulped, “Lena, I know that you are not my teacher, Kara is, I just-“ Her eyes went to the latte cup on her desk. She read the name on it and looked back at her, “You know.”

Lena looked back at the cup, “I overheard what happened last night.”

“You were there?” Nia gasped, “How much did you hear?”

“I heard everything, but don’t worry about it.” Lena said quickly, “Time can be rewritten can’t it?” She said as if it was nothing.

“What happens will still happen.” Nia said, panicking, “Just now…You two were making out…”

Lena averted her gaze, “We basically confessed our feelings and now Kara won’t abandon you because well, she knows.”

Nia sighed, running a hand through her hair, “Time will find a way to compensate for all of this. The war is still going to happen, and you are still going to die. There will be another thing that causes you and Kara to stop talking. Mom- This cannot be changed. It just can’t.”

Lena’s gaze softened, “If you know all of this, why come back here? Why tell Kara? Why bother? I don’t understand.”

Nia shrugged, “I’m sorry, okay? I should just go.” She said before turning to leave.

“Young lady, you will stay here and explain yourself.” Lena said sternly, raising her voice slightly.

Nia turned around and swallowed the lump in her throat. As she looked into Lena’s eyes, she remembered all the times she was read stories by her before she went to sleep in an evening and all the times they had girl’s days out. The mother-daughter days were the most amazing memories that she had and right there in that moment, she almost felt at home again.

_Almost._

“In just over a year, you will be pregnant with me, and then you get married a month after that. Something will happen to make the events that happened happen.” Nia sighed, “Maybe it’s because all of this will be rushed, I don’t really know. All I know is, in twenty-one years, you are going to die.”

Lena swallowed hard, “No…I won’t let it happen.” She shook her head, “I can’t lose you.” She stepped forward and put her hand on her cheek, fighting back tears, “You’re my daughter and Kara will be my world. I can’t let you lose me. I refuse to let that happen.”

A tear fell down Nia’s cheek as she put her hand on top of Lena’s, “I’m so sorry mom…It’s going to happen and I will be on my own.”

Lena fought back tears, feeling anger grow inside of her, “No, I cannot do that. I’m not letting that happen to you. Nia, you are never going to lose me.” In that moment, Lena pulled her close and held her tightly. Nia embraced her and held onto her like her life depended on it, crying into her shoulder, “I don’t want to lose you again mom, I can’t.”

“You won’t.” Lena said sternly as tears fell down her cheeks, “I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

In that moment, Nia didn’t want to let go of Lena ever again. Yes, she didn’t have that same bond with Kara because she didn’t know her growing up, but Lena was her world and she never wanted to lose her. Not now, never again.


	6. From This Moment On

Nia sat at her computer, asleep a few days later while doing college work. Space and time travel was finally catching up with her, and so was work. She was jolted awake when her phone vibrated on the desk. As she sat up, she ran a hand down her face as to rub the sleep from her eyes. As she looked around, she noticed it was dark out and pouring with rain. Nia looked at the computer screen and sighed heavily before checking the message on her phone.

She at least expected something from one of her friends, but as she looked at the contact, it was an unknown number. When she opened the message and read it, she realised it was from Kara. An apology for the way she had treated her. Nia guessed how she got the number but was pretty sure it was illegal to acquire a student’s number without permission.

Either way, she saved her assignment before logging off the computer, picking up her bag and leaving. Once she got to the sliding doors, she instantly regretted not bringing a coat. She sighed heavily as they slid open.

“Nia?” A voice called, softly. Nia spun around, she looked around the hallway and noticed no one else there other than her and this woman who appeared to know her name. Leather jacket, hoodie and skinny black jeans with red short hair. Yes, she’d never seen her before in her life.

Nia frowned, “Did you just-?” She stuttered, “I was about to head home.” She said, gesturing to outside where the rain was falling heavier now.

“It’s raining out, heavy.” The woman replied softly with a shrug of her shoulders, whilst putting her hands in her pockets, “Why don’t we get a coffee and talk?”

Nia scoffed slightly, “I’m sorry but, I don’t know who you are.”

“Right.” The woman smiled, laughing whilst looking at the ground before looking back up at her, “I’m Alex, Alex Danvers.” Alex was so nervous in this moment and Nia could tell with the way she held herself, “I’m your aunt.”

Nia swallowed and pulled her bag tighter on her shoulder. She heard about Alex as a kid back in her world, but never actually met her. Not once.

“I’d rather have a hot chocolate.” Nia smiled nervously.

Alex returned the same smile, glad that Nia didn’t freak out or run away.

….

Ten minutes later, Alex sat at a table with Nia nurturing a hot cup of coffee in her hands. The rain was still beating heavy and the atmosphere between them wasn’t hostile. It was warm, yes the pair were nervous but Nia was happy to talk to her.

“Your mom told me about where you’re from and what happened.” Alex said softly, breaking the ice. Nia appeared nervous, and so Alex shifted slightly, “Lena.” She corrected, “Well, and Kara.” She smiled slightly, “They both think the world of you.”

“I don’t think Kara feels the same.” Nia replied, “She basically rejected me when I told her the truth.”

“It was a shock to the system, but ever since then she has spoken to me about wanting to make things right with you. She wants to be your mom Nia.” A slight tone of urgency sounded in Alex’s voice as she leaned forward, “Both Kara and Lena fought over you this afternoon and while they may not be an item yet, I know that they love each other deeply and now the truth of Supergirl is out between them, they can build bridges of trust and hope.” She then paused, “You came from the future and you’ve seen it. In the future, they broke up because Lena learned the truth while they were married…Isn’t it better for Lena to learn the truth now?”

Nia shook her head, “This um…Time will compensate for this, I’ve already told Lena-mom, my mom all of this information and I’d rather forget about the future, _my_ future. I want to learn, to get my degree in journalism and get my old job back. I worked in Catco.” She concluded.

Alex sat back, surprised, “Wow. That’s great. Who gave you the job in the future?”

Nia laughed, “My mom, Lena. She loves that place so much and she gives me a job there.” She took  a sip of her hot chocolate before setting the cup down again, “I heard plenty about Supergirl growing up through my step-mom, Sam and the news. I never really learned much about you.” Nia crossed her arms, “I heard about Eliza, your mom…But you were never really mentioned.”

Alex was taken aback by all this information. For the moment, she was shocked to learn that Sam was going to be in a relationship with Lena in the future after Kara, “Sam? As in, Arias?”

Nia nodded, “She was great.” She smiled, before the smile faded, “But she perished as far as I’m aware. Have you heard from her?”

Alex shook her head.

“I had a great upbringing Alex, don’t worry. It’s after the war was declared and a Russian version of Kara came into the world that everything changed.” Nia sighed heavily.

Instinctively, Alex reached her arm across the table and put her hand atop of Nia’s, “Your moms told me…But surely now we are aware we can do something?” She asked softly, “I know you said that time will compensate for it, but, not if we know what is coming.” She said softly, “And we can keep an eye on Russia, we have the resources.”

“Can we-can we drop this? Please?” Nia asked softly, “I’ve spoken about this more than I want. I want to forget about what happened and start over.”

Alex frowned, “If you’re already here, you can’t be created because well-you’re already here.”

Nia sighed heavily, “I want to be happy Alex. I don’t want to be reminded of what I lost.” She smiled sadly, “Can I be happy now?”

Alex was taken aback by the question. Her answer, of course was that Nia should be happy. Her happiness should come first, no matter what. She loses everything in the future and if she wants to try again with Kara, she should have that chance. Alex’s response was to nod and smile, “You can be happy. We can drop all of this and move on. The place where I work has the resources to keep people safe and that’s all I want, to keep my family safe.”

“I thought I’d find you here.” A voice said from behind them. Alex looked over Nia’s shoulder and saw Lena standing there, looking ready to leave. Lena was shocked to see Alex there, “It’s weird how you show up where Kara is and now it’s weird that you show up where my daughter is.” That felt so normal to Lena, natural even to call Nia her daughter. Lena was proud, or at least, that’s how she seemed to Alex.

“The library.” Alex shrugged with a smile, “Where else would I find her?”

Lena smiled and glanced at Nia, “Are you ready to go home?”

“I’m really tired.” Nia nodded, before glancing at Alex, “Thank you for the talk.”

“Any time.” Alex smiled, “It was nice meeting you.”

“You too.” Nia replied, before walking over to Lena.

“I will see you around Director.” Lena beamed.

Director? Nia thought.

“Wait, wait. Director?” Nia gasped.

“Yes.” Alex replied, noting the slight concern in her face, “Why? What’s wrong with that?”

“N…nothing, I just…” Nia’s mind was swimming with hundreds of thoughts at once, but all she could say was, “Congratulations.”

“Thank you.” Alex replied, with a slight frown.

“Come on Nia.” Lena said softly, holding out her arm to her. Nia walked over to her and Lena wrapped her arm around her shoulders, “Goodnight Alex.” Lena said to her.

“Goodnight Lena.” Alex replied.

Lena and Nia then walked off, and Alex pulled out her phone to answer a call, “Winn?”

 _“Alex, we need you in the DEO. Kara has a doppelganger downtown and…She speaks Russian.”_ Alex’s heart dropped to her stomach, “Nia was right.”

“ _Nia?”_ Winn gasped, “ _As in Nia Nal? I met her on my way home a few nights ago. There seemed to be some tension between her and Kara. Who is she?”_

“She is their daughter.”  Alex sighed, “Lena and Kara’s daughter.”

 _“Oh…”_ Winn said quietly.

Alex took a breath, “And Lilian Luthor is on the loose again. This is just not good timing.”

 _“No matter what Alex, we need to keep her safe. She’s family and she escaped hell. From what she told me, she lost everything. We can’t let her do that.”_ Winn said sternly, but with a softer tone.

“I know.” Alex replied, “And we’ll do that. We’ll protect her.”


	7. Cannonball

A few days later, Nia was walking down the street, with her bag over her shoulder. The day was incredibly sunny and nice compared to the day before, but there was a chill in the air and Halloween was only a week away. Nia struggled to make friends, so really the only people she had to talk to were her two moms-mainly Lena. Most of the time she didn’t mind, but some days she wished she had people she could associate herself with that were her age. Today she wanted to go to the park, sit down and have a picnic, but she had no one to go with. As she walked down the street, she failed to notice the woman walking in front of her, causing them to collide with each other.

“Oh…Oh my gosh, I am so…so sorry ma’am, I didn’t mean-“Nia was apologising profusely and then stopped when she saw the woman’s face. She didn’t like this, not one bit. The future was still very raw for her. The woman had a smile on her face, however, “It’s not a problem, I shouldn’t have stood in the way. I’m just waiting for my daughter, she is still picking out a cake. Kids.” She laughed, “I should…Get out of your way.”

“Oh-yeah, thank you.” Nia said quickly, before walking away.

The woman seemed very confused as she watched her walk away. “Ruby!” She called after her.

“I’m coming mom. Sorry, there were just so many cakes and auntie Kara likes all of them, I don’t know what aunt Alex would like and the same for aunt Lena.” She shrugged, “I’ve got them now. When are we going to see them?”

“We are going to see them now. Come on, we’ll be late.” Sam smiled before walking with her daughter back in the same direction that Nia had just walked off in.

…..

Lena’s penthouse

Lena was stood with Kara and Alex preparing piles of food with little snacks, sandwiches, cakes and the like along with ten bottles of various soda which were 1 litre each. They were happily chatting away about their work days when Nia walked through the door unexpectedly.

The three watched her walk in, however, they all noticed that she looked like she had seen a ghost. Kara listened to her heartbeat and noticed that it was beating a little too fast.

“Who’s gonna be the first to say it?” Kara asked both Lena and Alex, whilst staring at her future daughter.

“Not me.” Lena said in response.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Alex finally said, before dropping her knife, “Nia, what’s wrong?”

“Me? W-nothing.” Nia said quickly, “Nothing is wrong…What’s all this for?” She asked, waving her arm at all the party food being prepared on the counter.

“We have a friend coming over.” Kara smiled, “I text you about it the other day when it was pouring it down with rain. Do you not check your texts?” She laughed, “Teenagers these days are always on their phones but they always ignore calls or messages from parents.”

“Well, you weren’t much of one anyway.” Nia responded automatically. It was as if everything she had ever wanted to say to Kara growing up was just spilling out, “And I’m not a teenager anymore.” She wanted to stop, but her veins were burning with what she really wanted to say, “So you don’t _get_ to talk to me!”

Lena was concerned at this point, just like the other two. Kara lowered her head, feeling ashamed for something she hadn’t even done yet. Because right now she knew she wouldn’t leave Nia because now she knew she could prevent it.

Lena walked over to her, “Nia, don’t talk to her like that.” She spoke with a stern tone, and her eyes narrowed at her, “You’re blaming her for something she hasn’t done yet or something that I caused. If you want to snap at someone, snap at me.”

Nia took a deep breath, glaring at Lena as she did. After a moment or two, she dropped her attitude and looked at her feet guiltily, “I’m sorry.” She said quietly. She then looked up at Lena, “I’m sorry mom…”

“You’re alright, okay? I get that all of this is a huge adjustment. I get how hard it is for you. You lost me, you never saw me again but I’m here.” She smiled sadly, putting her hands onto Nia’s upper arms, “I’m here and we, you hear me? Me, Kara and Alex, we are all here to help you. We love you and we are not going anywhere. Okay?”

Nia nodded slowly, before Lena pulled her in for a hug. Nia wrapped her arms around Lena and held her tightly, taking in everything about her even her scent. After a minute or two, Nia pulled away from Lena and looked over to Kara, “I’m sorry.”

Kara smiled sadly and nodded, “It’s fine.”

“It’s not.” Nia said sadly, “You, this you didn’t ask for that and I’m sorry.”

Alex looked between the pair of them and could see that they had potential for a really good relationship between each other, but they had to work on that together.

Kara put the knife down that she was holding and she walked over to Nia, “Like Lena said, this is an adjustment and I understand if you still hold some resentment towards me, in all honesty it probably didn’t help that I turned you away the night I met you and for that, I’m sorry.” She said before taking her hands, “But I’m going to be there whenever you need me, no matter what because that is what mom’s do. They are there for their children. I love you Nia, with every beat of my heart, I do. After you graduate from college with your journalism degree, Lena and I will make sure you have a job at Catco.”

“Thank you.” Nia smiled sheepishly.

“You’re welcome.” Kara beamed before there was a knock at the door.

“And that must be Sam.” Lena smiled, before going to answer the door, as she pulled it open, Ruby raced inside first, going straight to Alex and giving her a hug, “Aunt Alex!” She beamed.

“Hello!” Alex smiled, hugging the girl back.

“I’m sorry, she is just super excited.” Sam smiled, giving Lena a hug, “It’s very nice to see you.”

“It’s been so long.” Lena laughed, “I’m so glad you could make it.”

“It is very nice to see you.” Alex agreed whilst Kara was fussing with Ruby.

“Thank you.” Sam beamed, before noticing the stranger standing there. Or, not so stranger. “You-“ She started, staring at Nia, “I bumped into you on the street.”

Nia smiled sheepishly, whilst four pair of eyes stared back at her. Lena only glowed with pride as she walked over to her, “Sam, this is my daughter, Nia Nal.”

“Wow!” Sam said excitedly, “Did you adopt?”

“It’s a little more complicated than that.” Nia said nervously to her, “But it is very nice to meet you, again.” She smiled.

“You too.” Sam smiled, “Gosh, if I knew, I would have gotten you something from the bakery like I did for everyone else.”

“You weren’t to know, it’s not your fault.” Nia smiled, before Lena spoke up, “Well, I have a very nice bottle of champagne on ice that needs opening and for Ruby there is soda and lots of it. Strawberry soda too.”

“Yes!” Ruby smiled, before running over to where all the bottles were.

In that moment, the glass on the main window shattered, causing glass to fall almost everywhere. What lay on the floor in front of them were four cans, spewing out smoke, and one spewing out Kryptonite smoke.

Kara forced Sam behind her, almost forgetting that she was super powered like her, but it was too late by this point. First Alex fell unconscious, Ruby, Lena, Sam, Nia and Kara were all unconscious on the floor in under a minute. What followed was the sound of crunching glass beneath someone’s feet, followed by several other feet.

“Take the girl.” Lilian sneered, before walking over to where both Kara, Sam and Lena lay near each other on the floor, unconscious. Kara’s and Sam’s veins were glowing bright green. Lillian knelt down to them and looked over at Lena, “You’re a traitorous bitch Lena. When I thought you’d know the truth, I thought you’d see things my way…I’ll just have to _make_ you see things my way.” With that, Lena stood up as her guards carried Nia away.

……..

Lena eventually woke up, gasping at the bright light that greeted her eyes. Reality quickly came flooding back to her and she shook Kara, “Kara! Kara-“ She noticed both her and Sam’s veins were glowing green. She quickly rushed to where Alex was and woke her up.

Alex was quickly on her feet, looking at where Sam and Kara lie. As she quickly looked them over, she ran a hand through her hair and confirmed Lena’s suspicions, “Kryptonite.”

“Yeah.” Lena sighed, as she carried Ruby to the couch. She then looked around and noticed something or someone missing, “Alex, not to alarm you, but where is Nia?”

Alex stood up slowly, “Nia!” She called out, “Nia!” She shouted again before pulling Kara’s phone from her pocket and finding Nia’s number. As she called it, it rang out. As it rang out, it was on the kitchen counter. This confirmed Alex’s fears, “She’s been kidnapped.”

Lena’s eyes went cold, “This has Lilian written all over it.”

Alex walked over to her and put her arm on Lena’s, “We’ll get her back.”

Lena nodded slowly, “We’d better.”

….

CADMAS Base

Nia’s head ached profoundly as she woke up. She sat up slowly and something felt incredibly off. As she opened her eyes and looked around, she noticed that she was sat in about five inches of water. Then she scrambled to her feet. It soon dawned on her that she was trapped in a cube.

“Your aunt Alex was in a scenario like this a while ago, some sick twisted man trapped her in a box just like this and made _Kara_ come to find her. Alex almost died, but she knew how to fight to stay alive long enough. From what I know about you.” Lilian said, walking forward towards her, “You are from the future and you saw both Kara and Lena succumb to the flames.”

Nia rested her hands on the glass, “Please Lillian let me go.”

“If you die here, you never exist. That means that my daughter and that alien never happen, which would better for all of us. I’ve sent a message to the DEO, and now they will be looking for you. In fact, there is a camera recording this now. Your parents are probably watching.” She then shrugged, “This box is lined with Kryptonite, making it harder for them to save you.” She then laughed darkly, “The question for you is…” She began before snarling, “How long can you hold your breath?”

In that moment pipes began pumping out water, and that’s when Nia began to panic, “Lilian, Lilian please!” She pleaded desperately, “I didn’t come back here for this. Please!” She pleaded in tears.

 

The DEO

Everyone was stood around the computer monitors and Alex was having flashbacks herself while she watched the box slowly filling with water.

 _“You’d better hurry Supergirl, soon there won’t be anyone to save.”_ Lillian spoke into the camera before leaving it on the box in which Nia was stuck. Everyone watched on in horror and Alex turned to Kara, “I hardly survived the last time, the only reason I managed was because I had the training to be able to keep myself alive. She doesn’t even have a tracker.”

Lena watched carefully, “Even if we do find her, that box is encased in Kryptonite. That means it will be harder for everyone to get into it.”

“Never mind that.” Alex interrupted, “We need to find her.” She said, before turning to Winn, “Can you track the signal?”

Winn typed away incredibly fast at his computer, “The signal is encrypted. I can try and decrypt it, in the meantime we can’t really do anything.”

“Kara and I will fly around the city.” Sam said to her, “I have a costume, don’t worry.” She said before walking off.

Kara walked over to Alex, “We don’t know her very well, but if she’s my daughter, Lena will have taught her survival skills in the future.”

Lena turned around with a smug smile on her face, “Oh, I most certainly would teach my daughter survival skills, and she will survive this. I have no doubt.”

Alex nodded slowly at her before Kara looked at Sam coming back into the room.

“Let’s go.” Kara said to Sam, before leaving with her. 


	8. Too Many Broken Hearts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one gets very upsetting, so I'd say to read at your own risk. I'm loving reading all the comments and as ever, thank you for reading. I'm trying to keep chapters up but in the next few weeks, I will have a lot of assignments to do for university so please bear with me.
> 
> Thank you :)

As time ticked away, the tank got fuller and fuller. Nia had literally no idea what to do, at this point in her life, she’d only been taught how to knock someone out, shoot someone, and defend herself, but when it came to huge tanks, filling with water whilst she was in it, she had no idea what to do. Instead she pleaded into the camera for someone, anyone to help her. Nia didn’t want to die like this, she knew it was worse than burning alive.

She panted heavily as the cold water rose up her legs, she tried to think of any way to get out but as she looked up, she saw something that looked like a metal grid or mesh that glowed green over the top of her, whilst there was also glass on top of that. At this point, she knew she wasn’t getting out.

“The cage.” Nia gasped, talking into the camera, knowing someone would be watching. She struggled to fight the onslaught of tears that she felt coming, “Above me there is a mesh, it’s glowing green, and there is glass over the top of it. Even if Kara found me, I can’t get out.”

 

DEO Base

Alex watched anxiously as Winn typed frantically trying to find a location, “I’ve got her!” He gasped, “I’ve sent the co-ordinates to Supergirl and Sam, they should be able to find her there!”

Alex quickly got onto the coms, “Supergirl?”

 _“I’m on it. I’m just hoping it isn’t a false lead.”_ Kara replied as she flew straight towards the location.

“You and me both.” Alex sighed heavily, noticing the water was now up to Nia’s waist, “Come on Kara.” She sighed heavily, glancing at Lena. Lena was putting on a strong face, but Alex knew she was terrified with the way she was just too quiet. If Alex didn’t know any better, she would have thought that Lena was hiding something. But then, if she was wouldn’t she save Nia anyway?

Alex shook her head and carried on watching but noticed something. The water was filling faster, “Supergirl! The water is creeping up to her chest, you’d better do something!”

Meanwhile

Kara soared through the sky so fast that even Sam struggled to keep up. Soon, they both landed outside of somewhere that had been bricked up, and left to rot. Kara nodded at Sam, before they both walked in. Kara rushed down some stairs as she listened for Nia’s heartbeat, it was rapid.

Sam followed behind her and listened to both of their heartbeats. If there is one thing Sam could tell about those heartbeats, is that they both beat out of love for each other. An astonishing mother, daughter love and fear.

Soon enough, both women followed the sound of water and soon came to a bunker, and that was where the most horrific sight greeted Kara’s eyes. Nia was struggling to keep her head above the water. The girl was absolutely terrified, and it hurt Kara even more. The Kryptonian ran forward, “Nia, I’m going to get you out of there, okay?”

“Mom!” Nia cried out, almost flailing.

Kara’s brain short-circuited for a moment. Nia called her ‘mom’. That made her instinct kick in more, “Nia, listen to me. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere, do you hear me? Sam and I will get you out, you just need to trust me.”

Nia nodded slowly, “I’m scared.” Tears ran down her cheeks as she struggled. She even tried to hold out her hand. Just as Kara touched the glass, she instantly yanked her hand away, flinching in pain. As she looked down at the green glow on her hands, she knew straight away what it was.

“Alex! The box contains microparticles of Kryptonite.” Kara gasped, stepping away from it. Her heart ached so much when the realisation hit her. She stared at Nia, and all hope faded from her, “I can’t save her.”

Sam walked towards the cell cautiously and placed her hand on it, having the same effect as Kara, “That shouldn’t happen to me. I’m more resistant to this stuff.”

“Or were.” Kara said to her.

As Sam looked at her, she could see the tear trailing down Kara’s cheek, “We can’t save her Sam. We don’t have the time.”

Nia watched the whole thing happening between them and could tell that Kara had given up, “Mom, no. Please, please don’t leave me to die.” She gasped in tears. At this point, her feet weren’t even touching the floor, she was struggling to stay afloat.

Kara could even hear Lena shouting in her ear, begging her and Sam to do something. Both Kryptonian’s silently agreed between them, despite how truly awful this was that Nia had to die.

A distraught Kara flew up by the side of the box to meet Nia’s eyes, she wasn’t going to be a coward, not this time, “Nia, Nia, look at me.” Kara said sternly, but with a softer tone. Nia managed to meet her eyes but was freezing cold and that didn’t help in her fight for survival.

“There is nothing we can do; this glass is unbreakable. Lillian out did us on this.” She shrugged, but not with selfish intentions, “When we first met and ever since, you have said that time will compensate for you telling us information for what we already know is going to happen in the future. Maybe you will be reborn through Lena and I…And we’ll meet you again.” She smiled sheepishly, “Only this time, we will raise you properly. You will have your moms and I won’t vanish, I won’t give up. Not for one second. For this very brief amount of time that I have known you, you have taught both Lena and I a lesson in how to be mom’s…The next time, we will be better at it.” Tears streamed down Kara’s face as she watched Nia struggling to even breathe now. Kara wanted her to die in the best way she could despite the situation, only the worst was yet to come.

Nia smiled nervously and nodded. There was one thing she wanted to hear and that was Lena’s voice. Just hers one last time.

Sam plugged in a speaker, plugging her phone into it, “Okay Lena, she can hear you now.”

 

The DEO

Alex had tears streaming down her cheeks while the rest of the DEO stood in complete silence. They were watching a young woman, Lena and Kara’s daughter about to die and it sent shockwaves throughout the building. Alex was struggling to keep a panic attack at bay while Lena was trying to be strong, but when he time came to talk, she couldn’t find anything to say.

 _“Lena?”_  She heard Kara’s trembling voice through the line.

The Luthor fought back tears, before speaking, “Nia, you are the light of my life. Believe me, we will meet again and if this is time’s _sick_ way of making sure that you are born properly, then I suppose it has to happen. Hear this Nia, I love you. I know I didn’t say it before I vanished, but I do.”

At this point, water was already trying to get up Nia’s nose. Everyone could hear her struggling to breathe and if Lena was the one to help her die as peacefully as possible, she was going to do it.

Nia managed to get at least some oxygen, lifting herself from the water through the Kryptonite mesh that was being used, but soon realised that it burned her hand. She had no powers, but she was able to get burned by Kryptonite itself.

“I love you mom!” Nia called out, crying heavily before vanishing beneath the water itself.

“I love you too.” Lena muttered, staring at the screen in front of her. She could see that Nia was still fighting, but she guessed that this was the body’s natural reaction to drowning. It’s instinct to stay alive.

Meanwhile, Sam and Kara watched on in horror and knew the moment that the com line went dead. Kara kept listening for a heartbeat and back at the DEO, they all saw the moment that Kara knew her heart had stopped beating. The way Kara lowered her head, that’s what gave it away to Lena.

That’s all the confirmation she needed.

Lena turned around to Alex, “I may love your sister.” She said with anger and hurt in her voice, “I love her so, so much, but Lillian just made the future set itself in stone. In the future, I’m still going to die. Yes, we have obtained Kara’s doppelganger, but everything will fit into place soon enough. I want my daughter back and I want to be with Kara. However, we all know what will happen if I end up with Kara, so her and I...As much as it breaks my heart, we can’t be together.”

Alex didn’t fight her on this one. She didn’t have the energy and she also knew that Lena had a point about that. She also knew that if she ended up with Sam, that Nia will never have happened. She couldn’t tell if this was selfish or not, but right now, she didn’t have the energy to fight this.


	9. Cold as Ice

Lena sat alone in the med bay of the DEO, whilst waiting for Kara to return. The med bay was incredibly silent, and Lena felt like she had just had her heart ripped out. What did she do to deserve this? All she wanted to be was a parent. If Nia was from the future and indeed her daughter by DNA, she knew that she could be a mom if she truly wanted, but now she had seen her daughter die in front of her. Maybe it was time fixing what went wrong in the first place, but it still hurt like hell. If she wanted, she could kill someone with the rage that she was feeling deep down. That would be a Luthor way of doing things and she wouldn’t give Lillian the satisfaction.

Just as she was getting lost in her thoughts, the door opened, and Kara walked in. Her pride and happiness seemingly gone. Today Kara lost someone incredibly important to her too, but with the way Lena looked at her, she could see who she really blamed for this.

“There were two of you. Two strong Kryptonians, yes, the glass had Kryptonite within it, but you both could have smashed it together.” Lena snarled, “You could have saved her.” She got to her feet and walked over to her, “You chose not to help her, and she drowned.”

“Time was repairing what was wrong.” Kara replied quietly, “If I could have saved her, I would. Lena she’s-was…She was our daughter and will be in the future. While all of this will hurt, we can have her one day. You and I.” Kara’s voice chirped up as she took Lena’s hands, “I love you Lena, and whatever happens, I’m there for you.”

Lena yanked her hands away, “Are you serious? Kara, we have only just met. I might fancy you, but this? This world you live in? All of this is too much, and I’d appreciate it if you backed off.” Lena walked to the other end of the room. She ran a hand down her face, wiping any tears away she felt coming, “On Thursday you and I will go back to work.” She then turned around, “And we will forget any of this ever happened. If my daughter was right, I need time. Time to get to know you. Time to fall in love with you.” She sighed.

Kara nodded slowly, “I understand.” And she did, she understood that Lena needed time to understand, comprehend this. If Kara was honest with herself, she also needed time to deal with this too and rushing into a relationship was the last thing that either of them wanted.

Lena cleared her throat, “Miss Danvers. I’ll see you soon.” She nodded slowly, before leaving Kara alone.

Kara stood alone in the room and held back tears as she listened to Lena’s heartbeat. She knew the both of them had lost something very important, but perhaps this event, despite how tragic it was, it could bring them together.

Nia’s funeral- Two Weeks Later

It was a very long two weeks. Kara was struggling with work and only just managing to do classes. Lena kept in contact with her about funeral arrangements, other than that, when they saw each other in a morning at the university, there was a quick ‘Hi’ between them and nothing more. Despite Kara emailing Lena about lunches, Lena never responded.

Today was the worst, there weren’t many people there at all. A church was full with four people, Alex, Kara, J’onn and Eliza. Just as the funeral was about to start, Lena walked in, her heels echoing on the stone floor. As soon as Kara looked at her, Lena decided not to do this at all. Lena turned and backed away from the church and left.

Kara chased after her quickly, “Lena, Lena.”

Lena sighed in frustration, “I’m not doing this.”

Kara frowned, “You haven’t spoken to me in two weeks and all I wanted to know is if you were okay.”  She pleaded with her, “I know this is a really bad situation, but I needed to know that you were fine.”

“What did you think Kara?!” Lena snapped, “I watched my daughter-our daughter drown. She came here to warn us about the future and my mother of all people ended up killing her!” Lena snapped in frustration, “By the way, I’ve been doing good without you. The reason I don’t reply to your emails is because I’m with Sam!”

This stunned Kara, in what way? Platonic or more?

Kara questioned that, but remained silent.

Lena got into Kara’s personal space and lowered her voice, “I don’t know you Kara. Idon’t.” She said honestly, “When we met, it was harmless flirting and you went along with it. That kiss we shared? It meant _nothing._ ” Kara could hear the trembling in Lena’s voice, as if she was fighting an onslaught of tears. Yes, they didn’t know each other at all, but they both knew their future.

Didn’t they?

The Kryptonian spoke up eventually, “S-Sam.” She stuttered, “When you say ‘with’, what do you mean?”

“Is that any of your business?” Lena said bitterly. In all honesty, she hated Kara for what happened and while Kara understood that, Sam had the same powers as her so why did she hate Kara more? Then it clicked. Kara took a deep breath, “The only reason you aren’t with me is because you’re scared of the future even happening. You’re taking Nia away from me. My chance-our chance to be moms.” Kara so desperately wanted to be Nia’s mom, but with the way this was going, Lena was trying to avoid her own fate by being with Sam.

“Or maybe it’s because I’m in love!” Lena hissed.

Kara snorted at that, not meaning to. Lena narrowed her eyes and quirked her brow, making Kara go serious again, “Is there a problem with that, Kara?” Lena snarled.

“It’s been two weeks. Two weeks and you’re already having sex with her!” Kara snapped, gesturing her arm towards Sam, who was walking up the lawn to them.

“Whoever said anything about sex? More to the point, why would it be any of your business? Do me a favour Kara, stay away from me.” Lena snarled, “And Nia isn’t going to be yours, she will be mine and Sam’s.”

Sam finally caught up to them, and she could see that the fight between them was intense with the way Kara all but glared at her. Kara then looked at Lena, “I did all I could that day. If I could have saved her, I would have and you know it.” She sighed, “I love our daughter, and that’s all I want.” Kara was now fighting back tears that she felt coming, “I want our daughter back.”

Sam sighed heavily and looked at Lena, “Lena, maybe she is right. Maybe you are trying to avoid what happens in the future and I get why you’re blaming her, but I was there too and I have her powers. If this is how you’re doing this relationship, just trying to avoid the future, then I can’t be with you.”

Lena laughed, “Wow, really. This whole thing is pathetic.” She sounded cold as if nothing was left inside her but pure grief and maybe that’s what she needed. Time alone to think things through, to get her life right.

Sam knew Lena was scared. She feared having Nia to then leave her on her own in the middle of a war to never see her again. From what Lena knew, she raised Nia on her own with the _help_ of Sam. That’s the way it had to be. Deep down, they all knew it.

Lena looked down into Nia’s grave and forced a lump down in her throat, “I don’t want to fail her again. Knowing that I will, none of you have any idea how that feels.” She snarled, looking back at Kara, “And if the Supergirl thing wasn’t the big secret in the future, what the hell was it?”

Dread crept up Kara’s spine, even she didn’t know. Time would make something else up to split them apart, after all, the Supergirl card couldn’t be used any more. They’d just have to wait and see.


	10. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

AN: Hey everyone, sorry for the lack of updates, I have been so busy with Uni. Won’t be long until I break off this semester for the Christmas holidays! I have a question for my readers, would you all like a Supercorp/ Thirteenth Doctor crossover at all? As ever, thank you all for reading and here is a Christmas-ish chapter.

 

December rolled around too fast for anyone’s liking, however, Kara had adjusted to not having Lena in her life as much anymore. Not long after Nia’s funeral, Kara kept trying to talk to Lena, but Lena shut her out. It got to the point where her access always pass was revoked. That broke her, and despite Alex having a not so friendly chat with her, that seemed to make things worse.

And then finally, half-way through November, all calls and texts both to and from Lena and Kara seemed to just cease. Lena even had less lectures at the university, seeming to have other things to do.

Here Kara was, a week before Christmas. Normally, Kara would have had all of the decorations up on the very last day of November for December 1st the very next day. The alien just seemed to become sluggish and slow, not having her best friend in her life slowed her down. Kara dragged a tree across the room with Alex watching her carefully. She had a beer in her hand and a sharp frown crossed her face, “It’s the middle of the December…Every year, you have your tree up by the first of December…” She then sighed when Kara glared at her, “Kara, she will come around. These past few months have just been really hard for her.”

Kara managed to stand the tree up and began to decorate it, “She’s just stalling and making sure that Nia is never born.”

“Or maybe, time needs to be taken with this. I get that you were both hurt, but she truly saw Nia as her daughter, and you can’t blame her for taking this personally.” Alex sighed, perplexed, “You didn’t even want to know her at first and I _know_ that isn’t the point.” She said quickly, holding her hands up in defence, “She just wanted to protect her from anyone.”

“Lena and I are meant to be married in a year, and she is meant to be pregnant with Nia.” Kara almost snapped as she pulled some tinsel from a box. She was clearly getting stressed about the entire situation, “All of this has made me want a daughter even more.”

“But right now, it’s not for the right reasons.” Alex said pointedly, “You want a child with her because you know that you will have one and now you are forcing it on and maybe pushing Lena away in the process and I hate to say it, but you could be scaring her, hence why she is remaining in a relationship with Sam. Just like anything in this life Kara, it takes time and you can’t force love or a relationship on anyone, that’s where things get complicated and…Toxic…” She sighed.

Just as Kara was wrapping red tinsel around the tree, she stopped half-way, “If you are referring to me and Mon-El-“

“Oh that, that was toxic, and you can’t deny that Kara. You asked him the moment you got together to keep it a secret and then the next minute. Not even five minutes later, he blabbed his mouth. And do not get me started on him talking down to you-“Alex felt herself getting angry herself, “You said it yourself, he was a lying jackass. He used you and used excuses as though you were a game of baseball.”

Kara looked down at the floor, “While we are talking about my _toxic_ relationships, why don’t we talk about James and Lena huh?”

Alex almost spat her beer out, “You thought it was a good match and so did Sam. No wonder why it lasted two weeks in November, and then she went straight back to Sam.”

“A lot happened in those two weeks.” Kara replied quickly, “She helped James out a lot and then he turned around and said that it’s no wonder she doesn’t know what love is. You know, I could throw him into space too!”

Alex stared at Kara as she spoke. Kara noticed how she was looking at her and frowned, “What?”

“You.” Alex began, pointing at her, “You’ve got it bad. You really have, you are so deep into her. You really would fight for her until your very last breath wouldn’t you?”

Kara laughed nervously, “I…I just don’t like it when people hurt her…We kissed each other when we basically first met.” She smiled sheepishly, fiddling with the piece of tinsel she had in her hand, “I…Now I know about the future I just can’t stop thinking what perhaps we could be. We could be amazing.” Kara said with a dazzling smile as she stared into the abyss with eyes that looked dreamy and full of hope.

Alex nodded, “You could both be amazing, but you can’t rush it. I’ll ask her round for Christmas and if she says no, you can’t be sad about it…I’m…I’m sure she misses you too.”

Kara’s eyes snapped back onto Alex and she frowned, “How would you know that? Has she spoken to you?”

“Kara.” Alex said, standing up. She then walked over to Kara and took her hands, “Lena and I may have talked, but she doesn’t want to rush into anything. She has already had her heart broken once and she can’t bare that again. I’m not supposed to tell you any of this, but her and Sam, they broke it off. It doesn’t matter when, but I know that Lena loves you too…It’s just, baby steps Kara.”

Kara didn’t get giddy or super excited, she just nodded slowly as if she hadn’t been told the best news she had heard all month and answered, “Baby steps.”

Alex nodded slowly and just a second later, the whole room was decorated and covered in lights, tinsel, ornaments and an advent calendar on the wall, “Christmas is on the way!” Kara smiled triumphantly. Alex merely raised a brow, “Christmas just came early for you didn’t it?”

Kara merely nodded with a huge smile on her face whilst chomping on a candy cane, “We have a week to go Alex, I’ve been slacking. Now, I need to go out and buy gifts.”

Before Alex could say anything, Kara was gone. Alex was left alone in the silence of a sparkling apartment, and she couldn’t help but laugh.

Her Kara was back.


	11. Confessions

The Christmas Holidays came around pretty quick, at least that’s what Lena thought. Snow began to fall on National City the following day after Alex had told Kara that Lena was still perhaps in love with her. Lena, however, sat nursing a glass of red wine whilst in her desk chair, staring out of her balcony as delicate snowflakes glittered from the sky outside. She’d been invited to the Danvers’ Christmas party, but she was thinking of ways to back out. Maybe she wasn’t ready to see the Kryptonian yet.

As she sat thinking about it, she released a sigh. She then turned around and placed the glass on her desk, and stared at it, contemplating everything. Lena then let out a long sigh. The office was so quiet, it was almost blissful and heartbreaking at the same time, as she was used to spending Christmas alone, however, this year was different. Someone wanted her to be happy and despite appearing more of a Grinch, her heart grew a little. Maybe it was love that she felt afterall.

Standing, she walked over to the coat rack and pulled off her coat, she had to face the music. She had to face facts. She loved Kara and that was the end of it. They’d only known each other since nearer the end of September and that felt bitter-sweet. Falling in love had never been easy for her and this seemed to be so easy.

As she left the office, she realized, this was the last time she would ever really be alone. No more Christmas’s alone, no emptier birthday’s. She actually had friends to spend such a time with and right now, she didn’t know how to feel about that.

 

Kara’s apartment, an hour later.

 

The Kryptonian had been hovering for the last hour, pacing up and down, annoying Alex to the core. It was at the point where Alex was staring daggers at her, and Kara refused to look at her, knowing she’d be met with such a look. A knock at the door made her snap her head up so quickly, she zoomed to the door. A smile spread across her face as the opened the door, “Lena! Hi!”

Lena returned the smile sheepishly, “Happy Christmas.” Lena caught Alex staring from across the room and it made her feel on edge. Maybe she shouldn’t have come, maybe it was a huge mistake.

“Let her in then Kara.” Alex said, rolling her eyes as she stood up. She then walked over to Lena and passed her a beer. She leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “She has been pacing for the past hour, almost driving me insane.”

Lena glanced at Kara, who was now in the kitchen. She then looked back at Alex, “Does she know about me and Sam?”

“I don’t know what she knows.” Alex lied, “But she has been excited and nervous to see you.”

Lena nodded before walking over to the counter, “Kara.” She began.

Kara looked up, “Yes?” She smiled, “Do you want any snacks? I cooked lots because others are coming and, I didn’t know what you liked and-“

“Kara.” Lena interrupted, causing the Kryptonian to halt in her babble. Kara was going bright red as she spoke. A smile spread across Lena’s face, “Wow.” She laughed, “You really do have it bad.”

Kara swallowed the lump in her throat, “Lena…we need to talk about-“

Lena shook her head, “No, no we don’t need to talk about her. We just need to make her.” Wrong words to use. Lena felt she had to be straight to the point. She met Kara’s eyes after a few seconds.  
  
Kara looked almost mortified. Lena then thought she did something wrong, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have-“ Lena began before Kara grabbed her hand, “No, you’re right. But first we need to fix what problems we had between us in the first place.”

Lena nodded, and smiled sheepishly, “Kara…I…I love you.”

Kara leaned closer to her over the counter, “Lena, I love you too.” She smiled, almost laughing, “And I’m an idiot if I didn’t see it before. But I’ve been in love with you for a while and whatever the future holds, I want us to face it together.”

“I would want nothing more.” Lena smiled.

Kara sealed the deal and kissed the woman, pulling her closer in the process, “Merry Christmas Lena.”


	12. In the Light of Day

 “Merry Christmas Kara.”

 

Kara lay in bed the next morning on her back, staring at the ceiling. It was only when she looked to the left of her, she realized that Lena must have stayed the night. In that moment, a gasp left her lips. She thought it was all a dream, but no, it happened. They had sex and now Kara had thoughts flooding her mind. She wondered if this was how Lena ended up pregnant in the first place. Then dread pooled her stomach and she put her hand on her forehead, this was too soon, she couldn’t do this. It was then that she got up and ran to the bathroom to spew up her guts. Even Kara knew this wasn’t a good sign. She wasn’t ready.

Lena woke up after hearing Kara throw up in the bathroom. She ran a hand through her hair, frowning, also wondering how she ended up in Kara’s bed. Then she remembered, after everyone left, her and Kara were left on their own. That’s when things got steamy between them.

Last Night

“Lena.” Kara giggled as the Luthor pushed her up against the wall. Alcohol was present in her breath, but Kara didn’t mind it. Instead, she met Lena’s lips and kissed her in return.

“Everyone has gone home. It’s just you and me.” Lena smiled against Kara’s lips before meeting her eyes, “So, what do you want to do?”

Kara blushed so heavily, it made Lena laugh. She then quirked her eyebrow, “Well, it’s getting late so maybe we should sleep.”

“Maybe…” Kara drawled off, “Maybe we should.” Kara then bit her lip, before lifting her up and rushing to the bedroom, and carefully placing Lena down on the bed. Just as Kara began to undress herself, she realised something, “Um…Maybe we shouldn’t do this…”

Lena sat up, resting on her elbows. She was instantly concerned, “Kara, what is it?”

“Lena…Knowing I’m Supergirl is one thing but um…My anatomy is different to that of a human female’s.” Kara blushed awkwardly, fiddling with her glasses. She has no idea how Lena was going to take this, but if they had a child in the future, she’d take it well, right?

“I um…” Kara began, “Male humans have, well, they have what humans call a penis and I…It’s not really that.” She laughed nervously, “I um, I have more of a tendril.” Kara watched carefully how Lena frowned, “If you don’t want to do this anymore, I get it, completely.”

Lena’s silence made Kara feel uncomfortable to say the least, “You know what?” Kara gasped, “Nevermind…I um…I should have told you before we got to this point and…I’m sorry.”

“Kara.” Lena said suddenly, sitting up, “You have different anatomy, that doesn’t bother me…It’s just a little bit tough to get my head around…It’s not…It’s not a problem.”

“It’s not?”

Lena then laughed herself, easing the tension in the room, “When you love someone, you’re meant to love them for everything they are, not just how they look. Now, being a Luthor, you’d think I would have different ideas, but I don’t. Not when it comes to you.”

“No?” Kara asked sheepishly.

“No.” Lena laughed, “Now get over here and make love to me.”

Kara smiled, and almost leapt at the chance, getting on the bed and kissing the Luthor again, pulling her close and taking off both their clothes in the process.

 

Now

Lena walked to the bathroom with a sheet wrapped around her. She looked at Kara as she splashed her face with water. “Are you okay?” The first words that left Lena’s lips. Kara instantly paused, she then turned around and plastered a smile on her face, “I’m great! I’m really good.”

“Do Kryptonian’s normally get sick or is this you panicking about last night?” Lena asked, raising her brows, “I know the answer to that is the latter.”

Kara looked at the floor at this, “Lena, last night was great…It really was.”

“Somehow I can feel a _but_ coming on.” Lena bit back, “I thought you wanted us to have a child. I thought you wanted us to have Nia.”

“I do, I do, but…this…It all feels a bit too much, but I can’t take it back because…You’re pregnant.”

There was a moment of silence, everything hit Lena at once, her eyes widening. She then laughed, “You can’t possibly know that.”

“The heart develops first. That’s how it has worked out this time. No one has ever had a hybrid of Kryptonian and human before. When I listened to your heartbeat, I heard two…That means that there is another being inside you. Developing.” Kara shrugged, “We really should have talked about this.” Kara sighed, “Properly, last night we just…we didn’t think about the consequences, we just both want Nia and I think we went about it the wrong way.” Kara then looked past Lena as her alarm began to ring, “I’d better get ready for work.”

As Kara was about to leave the bathroom, Lena grabbed her arm, stopping her, “Kara, it has just occurred to me, if I have this child, the future still happens. The future Nia warned us about.”

Kara then shrugged, “I have a feeling, once Nia is born, what we know will be forgotten because like Nia said, time is going to repair itself. If we don’t have that information, how do we know what’s coming? We won’t.” With that, Lena let go of Kara and Kara went to get ready for work.

After Lena got herself dressed, she sat at the island eating her breakfast-trying to eat her breakfast. Kara was sat across from her eating some sort of oatmeal, trying not to meet her eyes.

“We made a mistake, didn’t we?” Lena asked in the silence, making Kara put her spoon down, “We don’t even know what we are doing. We aren’t parents. Look at us, you’re a Super and I’m a Luthor. This…It was all a stupid mistake. I don’t even like you!” She snapped with frustration.

Kara was hurt, but she knew most of it was her hormones, “Lena, you’re worrying, but we will be fine.” Kara said softly, “Listen to me, we will learn how to deal with this.”

“I have a lecture to get to.” Lena said, sounding upset. She pushed herself away from the counter and left the apartment. Kara then frowned, university broke off a few days ago. She then realised that Lena was just looking for a way out.

Kara then pushed her bowl away and put her head in her hands, “What have I done?” she said to herself.


	13. A Whole New Kind Of Pain

“Is she still not talking?” Alex asked Kara as she leaned over the counter. It had been two days since Lena had spoken to Kara. Yes, Kara could fly to L-Corp and see how she was doing, but this was still a lot to take in. Kara was sat on her laptop, marking essays whilst Alex stood with a bottle of beer in hand. The Kryptonian let out a huff as she pushed her glasses up her nose, “No.” She sighed, “If she would talk to me then maybe I can help.”

“Or maybe.” Alex shrugged, “You have both just set the future in stone and she is terrified of what comes next. She isn’t shutting you out because she doesn’t love you. She is doing it because she is scared and you staying here and doing work is not helping. If she’s pregnant with your child, she needs you to be there. It’s not an inconvenience before you say anything.” Alex said to her, pointing her finger at her. Before Kara could reply, Alex did it for her, “You’re her lover and she is pregnant with your child. Yes, you both should have thought it through, but you didn’t because you both wanted the future so badly and now you both know what is coming, you suddenly don’t want it anymore because you are both scared of the same thing. Am I wrong?”

Kara swallowed the lump in her throat and lowered her eyes, “We just both-we knew what we wanted, and we ruined it. Alex, we don’t even know each other. We both ruined it and now I feel as though I have an obligation-“

“You _have_ an obligation and that obligation is Lena and your child. This is the real-world Kara. A guy sleeps with a girl and gets her pregnant, they can’t just back out. Well, they can, but where your beliefs stand, you know that won’t happen. So, what is the next thing you do? Whilst most guys are cowards and run, that is something you are not.”

“A guy?” Kara questioned, her eyebrows fused together with confusion.

Alex then laughed, “No dummy. You’re not a coward, or at least, I should hope not. What was this whole thing? A one-night stand or was it love?” Alex noticed Kara’s silence, “That worries me.”

“W-what does?” Kara questioned.

“Your silence.” Alex replied, before leaning over the counter, “I get it, you don’t know her very well and she doesn’t know you all that well. However, Lena is pregnant as I keep saying. I can see you’re getting annoyed with that word already because it is a constant reminder, but I’m breaking those walls.”

Kara swallowed the lump in her throat, “So, no matter what, I have to face this?”

“Yes!” Alex snapped before placing her palm on her forehead. She then closed Kara’s laptop lid.

“Hey!” Kara gasped, “I was marking an assignment!”

“You can do that later when your mind is a little less foggy. Right now, go and speak to the mother of your child.” Alex said sternly, raising her brows.

Kara only stuck out her bottom lip in response and pouted, crossing her arms in the process.

“The pout won’t work on me. You’re big enough to stick it in there, you’re big enough to take the responsibility, now go.” Alex more or less ordered this time. She watched as Kara grabbed her coat off of the hook. Kara turned around after she put her coat on and looked Alex in the eyes, “What…What if she rejects me?”

“Then you keep trying. You want this child Kara? You _Fight_ for them.” The fierceness in Alex’s tone gave Kara strength to face up to this. Boy, was it going to be a long night.

 

L-Corp 23rd December.

Kara walked through the long halls of L-Corp, speeding through her mind what she was going to say to Lena. The truth was, she had no idea how she was going to do that. Lena could build the biggest walls possible and not even Supergirl could get through them because Lena knew exactly who Supergirl was.

The blonde’s heels echoed as she walked down one stretch and her attention quickly snapped to when she heard a commotion coming from.

No.

Wait.

“Oh Rao.” Kara gasped, before speeding into Lena’s office. As she walked in the door, she saw Lena on the floor, luckily not on the hard surface, but her waters had clearly broken. The horrified Kryptonian was frozen steadfast in the doorway. Her eyes wide as she saw a woman trying to help the Luthor out. Kara assumed this was her assistant or someone of that stature. In the meantime, Kara’s eyes widened as she realized what was going on. It was in that moment she realized that Kryptonian children must develop faster in the womb than she first thought. Too dumbstruck to notice, Lena was now locking eyes with the woman in the doorway and as soon as Kara regained her composure and came back to Earth, be it with a huge crash, she realised that Lena too was staring at her.

“Kara, get your ass in here.” Lena spoke remarkably calmly considering her current predicament. That alone sent a shiver down Kara’s normally warm spine. Lena’s assistant then looked at Kara, “Miss Luthor, you said she was pretty.” The woman teased.

Lena smiled lightly, “She’s our resident super hero. I know I can trust you with that information Jessica, it’s a shame my lover is good with the part when it comes to creating a child, she is just a little confused when it comes to delivering one.”

At this, Kara blushed heavily, and rushed to Lena’s side, “I’m here, okay? And, and if your waters are broke already, it will literally be minutes before the baby arrives.” Kara said to her, taking her hand, “I came to talk to you about this, about us.”

“I know Kara.” Lena sighed, before feeling a contraction, causing her to scream out in pain. At this, Kara took the woman’s hand, “You’re not alone, okay? I’m here and I always will be. I’m in it for the long haul now just as you are. I didn’t realise that the baby would take very little time to grow. I guess it’s to do with how you and they absorb sunlight.”

“I’m so uncomfortable down here.” Lena gasped as she felt another contraction coming, before screaming out again, “Oh my God, this hurts so much Kara.”

“I’m sorry.” Kara sighed, kissing the back of her hand. The Kryptonian zoomed off and within five seconds, Lena was lying on something more comfortable with a pillow and she had warm towels too, “We can’t have the baby in the hospital, they’d think…Well, needles might not go through their skin.” Kara was using the terms, _they, them_ and _their._ As to not let Jess know that the gender was something they knew, but of course, they did. There was a moment when both Kara and Lena locked eyes with each other, each knowing what was coming once they had this child. They knew the future they had to face together but at least it was just that. They were doing this together.

All of the normal hormonal things that a woman was meant to feel during pregnancy suddenly began to hit all at once and it was overwhelming. Kara didn’t try to run. She wasn’t going to. This was her mess, she had to figure it out. Somewhere along the line, both women knew that they split up, they just didn’t know when or how. If Kara had to guess now, if it wasn’t the secret of Supergirl, perhaps it was her own cowardice. Perhaps she couldn’t face being a parent? She really didn’t know and right now she didn’t want to know.

“Kara.” Lena gasped, taking in deep breaths, “Marry me.”

Kara was suddenly gawking, her face like a goldfish, “W-what?” She gasped, “Lena, we don’t know each other that well.”

“I’m having your child. You and I both know how much we love each other, and I want that. I want that for the both of us so…Let’s get married, Christmas day.” Lena gasped.

Kara noticed a tear streaming down Lena’s cheek, “Lena, you’re feeling so many sensations right now, you’re just not thinking straight.”

Lena then looked Kara dead in the eyes, “I think I am thinking straight Supergirl, it’s you who wasn’t. I wanted this baby and then when you realised we were having one, you were ready to back out.”

“And I’m here now Lena, that’s what matters.” Kara sighed heavily, “I’m here for you and our baby.” She sighed heavily, kissing the side of Lena’s temple, almost crying as Lena screamed out in pain once again. Kara knew she was going to lose all of this in the near future and it broke her heart. Just as Kara began to get lost in her thoughts, Jess chirped up, “Miss Luthor, you need to start pushing now.”

As Kara gripped Lena’s hand tighter and ensured that she was in her eyesight, she could see the fear in Lena’s eyes, “Lena, you can do this. I’m with you.” Kara smiled sadly, as she put her hand on her cheek.

“Kara, I can’t…I can’t be a mom.” Lena gasped, “I’m a Luthor, I can’t be mom material.”

“That’s nonsense.” Kara laughed softly, “We all know that in this story, I’m the one who fails and you prevail, despite everything. You are going to be the best mother our child will know.” Kara could see from the way Lena was looking at her that she didn’t believe her, “I’m going to fail Lena because I do something stupid.” Kara sighed. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she kissed the back of Lena’s hand, “And that’s why…I can’t marry you.” The honesty in Kara’s voice hurt Lena, but what hurt even more was Kara saying no to being with her. The Luthor forced back tears as she stared back at the baby blues which were also full of tears themselves. It was Lena who made it resolutely clear where the pair stood in that moment. She pulled her hand away from Kara, “You need to go.” She said very sternly despite the tears she was fighting back, “If you aren’t going to be there for her now. I don’t want you near her at all.”

“Lena?” Kara gasped, “I said I didn’t want to marry you, I never said I wouldn’t be there for her.” Kara said quickly, “I will always be there for her.”

“But you won’t though? That’s what you’re terrified of. That’s all you’ve been thinking about. You know that I raise her on my own and that’s why you won’t marry me.” Lena said to her.

Jess looked between them, she was going to question how they both knew the sex of the child or even their own future, but at this point in time, it wasn’t her place to ask. Instead, she remained where she was and watched Kara trying to conjure an answer to Lena’s brutally honest question.

Kara shamefully nodded, “That is why I won’t marry you. Lena, I’m thinking maybe it’d be easier if we didn’t do that because it’d be less painful for us when we did…split.”

“You’re not _there_ when she grows up Kara. If you’re not there then, what is the point in you being here now?” Lena asked, remaining so honest that it broke Kara in two. At this point, Kara’s brows furrowed but she seemed to accept what Lena was telling her. She then got up, and began to walk away, wiping away her tears as she heard Lena began to push. The blonde was half-way down the hall when she heard her child’s cries echoing from the office. This only broke her heart more.

 

Lena held the infant in her arms, and smiled down at her, “Hello you.”

“What are you calling her Miss Luthor?” Jess asked her as she stared at the infant, in awe.

“Nia, Nia Danvers-Luthor.” Lena said to Jess, loud enough to know that Kara was still listening as she was walking. Now both the Luthor and Super were hurting but in their mind’s, they were doing this for all the right reasons, no matter how painful.


	14. Show me Heaven

“What happened?” Alex asked as she walked into Kara’s apartment the next morning. Kara was sat on the corner of the couch, staring into the abyss seemingly not noticing her sister’s presence, until she decided to speak, “I heard Nia’s cries…But I didn’t meet her Alex, I couldn’t. What is the point when all of this will be destroyed anyway?” Tears filled Kara’s voice as she spoke, her eyes never leaving the spot which she was staring at.

Alex let out a sigh. As she put her coat on the counter, she then walked over to her sister and sat beside her, “Kara, you better not be a coward. If you and Lena want to change your future so badly, then why don’t you do it instead of letting it pass you both by? Lena _will_ resent you if you don’t fight for this.”  
  
“But she’s the one who told me to go Alex! She literally said, what is the point in me being there now if I’m not there later?” Kara finally looked Alex in the eyes, all emotions hitting her at once. The Kryptonian noticed how Alex’s shoulders deflated, “What Alex?”

“I’ll tell you what.” Alex said in a slightly sterner voice than before, “You and Lena, you love each other, okay? You want a future together? Screw what fate says, if it turns out that you leave Nia, at least you gave it a damn good shot. At this point Kara, all you are being is a coward and so is she. The only way to fight the future is to change it as much as possible, maybe things can turn out much different. Time can be rewritten.”

Kara shook her head, “No, no it can’t. Nia said it herself-“

“Screw what Nia said!” Alex snapped, standing this time. She couldn’t take this any longer, she had to be as blunt as possible, to get the message through. If Kara wanted a future with Lena, she was going to have to fight against everything. Alex then kneeled in front of her sister, locking eyes with her, “What the hell do you and Lena want? No, what do _you_ want?”

Kara’s jaw opened slightly, but no words came out and so Alex waited until she could muster a sentence, “I want Nia, and, and Lena.”

“And how will you go about doing that? Kara, the fact is, weather you like it or not, you are a mother now. Things have changed a whole lot over the past 72 hours. You have a child, and you have a lover, but where is your child? That child is with your lover, why is the child not with you?”

Kara frowned at the questions, “Why are you quizzing me? I don’t know the answers to this.”

“Yes, you do Kara!” Alex snapped, “Get your head together for once in your life!” Alex hated doing this, but she had to get through to her one way or another and she could see her tough loving tactics were working as Kara went incredibly pale.

“Let’s try again.” Alex sighed, “You have a child that was born last night. You haven’t yet seen that child, why? Because you’re scared of what the next twenty years will bring. You know what I say? I say screw whatever you think is set in stone, because by being here, you are making sure that whatever fate decides happens. Get your butt off of this couch and go to that woman and when you do, tell her that you won’t go anywhere. It’s time for you to grow up and take this responsibility. If it wasn’t me whooping your butt about this, mom certainly would and I could get her on the phone-“

At this, Kara jumped up and got off of the couch, “No thank you, I…I’d better get going.”

Alex stood up and crossed her arms, “If you come back with no Nia, I’m calling mom.”

“You wouldn’t-“

“Kara Danvers, yes I would, now go and talk to Lena and sort your lives out.”

At this, Kara merely nodded and zoomed out of the door in a flash.

 

Lena’s Penthouse

Lena sat down on her own couch feeding Nia her, now, third bottle of milk when she heard a knock at the door. When she looked down to her IPad, she noticed that the camera showed Kara at the door. Lena sighed heavily, but released the many latches anyway, letting Kara in.

As Kara walked in, Lena refused to look up at her, “It’s a pleasant surprise to see you here.” Lena said in a cold tone, “I thought you didn’t want to be here? I gave you the choice and you walked.”

Kara was staring at Nia, her heart ready to explode with joy as well as the pride she was currently feeling, but she had to deal with one thing at a time, and that’s when she tore her eyes from the infant and looked at Lena, staring into her emerald greens, “I realised that if I don’t do anything, we are cementing the future and I won’t let that happen. Lena, we know what will happen soon, and we can’t change it, but what we can do is fight it.”

“And how do you suppose we do that?” Lena asked, looking down at Nia, and then back at the blonde.

“I love you and you love me.” Kara shrugged, “I won’t marry you because it is way too soon, but we can work from here. We can fight until we can’t fight anymore.” There was a pause, “And for once in my life, I need to take responsibility. I created a child and I can’t be a coward. I can’t walk away, not when I have you both to take care of.”

Lena’s cold pretence now softened, “So you’re here for good?”

Kara nodded slowly as she stared at the infant in Lena’s arms, “I’m here for as long as I can be. We can make us work Lena. I want to make us work.”

A small smile then crept onto Lena’s face, “I was scared of what would happen yesterday. Everything, it hit me at once and I just didn’t know what to do.”

“I know, I know.” Kara said softly, as she walked over to her. She then sat beside her and put her arms around her, “I’m not going anywhere Lena. I will always protect you, and her.” Kara placed a soft kiss on Lena’s cheek and Lena let out a soft sigh, now she felt as though everything was better. The future wasn’t okay, but at least they were both ready to face it, together.

Kara looked down at the infant and smiled at her. Tears filled her eyes as she finally let herself feel joy, “She’s so beautiful.”

Lena frowned at Kara as she noticed that she was crying. A smile crept onto her face as she saw the happiness in Kara’s eyes, “You can hold her if you want, she might need breast feeding though. The powdered stuff doesn’t seem to do anything for her appetite, and I wonder where she gets that from.” Lena chuckled.

Kara wiped her eyes with the back of her hands as she laughed too. “I suppose I should try and breast feed her.”

“Do you want to be left alone while you do it?” Lena asked softly.

“If I’m being honest, I’m not totally sure how I-“

Lena stood with Nia in her arms, “You can do it however you want, whatever makes you comfortable. You can still wear your shirt and remove a part of your bra or you could take both of them off and I can find something warm to wrap you in. There are other ways, but it depends what is more comfortable for you.”

“I-I think I’d rather do it, with no layers on at all on the top half of my body.” Kara then frowned, “Why haven’t you been able to breast-feed her, surely it should be you who is able to do that?”

Lena shook her head, “Nope…It seems that it’s you who has that responsibility, God knows how the science of that works, but I will find out. I just haven’t got any milk for her, so I figured you might.”

Kara went red at this, “This is so new to me.”

“It’s new to me too.” Lena smiled, “But we will figure it out.”

Kara nodded slowly before removing her shirt and her bra. Lena then passed Nia over to her carefully, and as soon as Kara had the infant in her arms, she felt a weird sensation. It wasn’t bad, but she couldn’t figure out what it was. As the Kryptonian got comfortable on the couch, Lena helped her position the child correctly, “There we go.” The Luthor smiled, “You’re a natural and what do you know? You do have what I don’t.”

Kara laughed sheepishly, “I had no idea that it would work the other way…But wait, if Superman has children, does that mean he has to do this?”

Lena frowned as she thought about it, “Um…I don’t actually know…Maybe.” The Luthor then went to find a blanket. She came back a moment later with a large, luxurious white blanket which she wrapped around Kara’s shoulders and torso. “There you go.” She said softly, kissing Kara’s cheek from behind. As she looked down at Nia in Kara’s arms, everything felt so right. She rested her chin on Kara’s shoulder and couldn’t get over how beautiful their child really was.


	15. A Dream of Christmas

Christmas Morning

Kara woke on the sofa, hearing the screaming of a baby. That’s when it all came back to her, Lena made up with her and they were both on the right track. Nia was just across the room, crying. As Kara came back to consciousness properly, she heard Lena comforting their child, hushing her to sleep again.

“I didn’t mean to wake you, I’ve been trying to keep this one quiet all morning.” Lena smiled as she sat beside Kara. She was wearing the softest baggy pants that Kara had ever seen and a wonderful Christmas sweater. As Lena sat on the end of the sofa, Kara moved her legs, so she could sit closer, “It’s okay.” Kara managed, before frowning, “What time is it?”

“Just past ten.” Lena said softly, as she comforted Nia, rocking her gently, and that was a sight to behold. Anyone would think that Lena had been at this before. Kara sat up slowly, “Ten?” She asked as she gathered her thoughts, “She slept that long?”

Lena chuckled, “No, she was awake five hours earlier.” She glanced at Kara as Nia began to fall to sleep again, “I also had Alex on the phone worrying about you at two this morning. Why must your sister think the worst of me?”

Kara put her hand on her face, “Lena, I am so sorry. I was meant to call her back last night and I didn’t.”

“It’s fine, I told her how things happened last night. She seemed satisfied enough.” Lena smiled, “It’s also snowing out. It’s been snowing all night.”

Kara looked out of the window and noticed it was still dark out. She frowned, “Lena, honey, if it’s ten in the morning…where is the sun?” The Kryptonian got to her feet and grabbed her phone from the coffee table and checked the time, 2:30am. Kara swallowed a lump in her throat, “Lena…It’s two-thirty in the morning…Are you sure you didn’t have a weird dream?”

Lena’s own brows furrowed, “What do you mean?”

“You could have had one of those dreams that felt real. I have them sometimes. They happen to the best of us. You probably didn’t sleep well last night. Let me look after Nia, you go and get some proper sleep. I need less sleep than you.” Kara smiled sheepishly, “Lena, I won’t take her, I promise you.”

Lena seemed frozen to the spot, “I know you won’t, I just…I don’t want to let her out of my sight.” She clutched Nia a little tighter, being protective. Lena noticed Kara’s face soften, and she knew Kara was going to try and break down her walls and boy, did that work. Kara knelt beside her, “I won’t let _anyone_ take her. I’m Supergirl, remember?”

“But Supergirl couldn’t even save her. Do you remember that?”

Kara lowered her head as she had a flashback to when Nia had been kidnapped by Lilian.

 

_Flashback_

_The tank was getting fuller of water by the minute. Nia’s face was one of terror and utter, utter fear. Kara felt frozen and yet she couldn’t even go near the tank or she would die too. She was ignoring every single instinct of her own, she wanted to turn and run, but she refused to do so. Her daughter was in front of her, and she needed her. Tears filled her eyes as she looked back at the girl. She could see that she was freezing cold, but nothing would be able to stop this. She couldn’t believe what she was doing. That’s when she made up her mind, it was the both of them or one of them. Selfishly, Kara chose that Nia had to die in order for things to happen properly. She didn’t let anyone know, but she knew of one way in which she could have saved her, but the internal battle she had told her not to. That’s when she stepped away from the tank and spoke out loud, both to the headset and Sam, “I can’t save her.”_

Present

Kara lifted her head to meet Lena’s eyes, “That won’t happen again, you know it won’t. I’m here now. She won’t be harmed, ever.” She said resolutely, “Please, let me take her and you get some sleep. She probably needs feeding. I’ll feed her and then I’ll join you in bed and if you would feel better, I can bring in the crib too.” She smiled sheepishly.

Lena nodded slowly, “I’ll do that…I’m sorry for being over protective.” She laughed sheepishly, “I shouldn’t.” She shrugged, “Because I have you to protect us, but you…I keep thinking, if you couldn’t protect her the last time, how will you this time?”

“I’ll be ready.” Kara said resolutely, “No one will hurt us. I promise you that.” And she did. She made a mistake the last time, she will not repeat that again. If anything, she murdered Nia because she chose not to save her even though she had a way of saving her. If that truth ever got out, she knew that she could possibly be rejected by everyone that she knows.

Lena could see on Kara’s face that there was something going on inside her head but didn’t question it. She thought it was just her tiredness making her paranoid. After a moment, she handed the infant over to the Kryptonian, “Make sure you bring the crib into the room once you’re done.” Lena said softly. She watched as Kara nodded slowly, followed by Nia groaning slightly to the change in arms which she was being held in. Lena crouched down and kissed Kara softly on the lips, “I love you Kara.”

Kara smiled slightly, “I love you too Lena.” As Lena walked off, Kara sat on the sofa and got herself ready to start feeding Nia. Guilt began to consume her as she sat there, thinking about the events that lead everyone to where they were now, “I screw up your life.” Kara whispered to Nia, “Twice…I’m not there for you in the near future and then…” Her sentence drifted off, “No, I’m not going to let that happen. Not again. I should never have let it happen in the first place.”

As the daylight began to come through the sky, Kara stared out of the window having not slept at all for the rest of the night. As she looked at the clock next to her, she saw that it was 7am. Christmas was officially here. She got up slowly, being careful of the crib next to her as Nia slept peacefully. Lena too was blissfully unaware of the day. This was the first Christmas hadn’t had alone. That’s when it hit Kara, Lena had no decorations, not even a tree in her apartment. The Super quickly changed that. Fifteen minutes later after a few stops to a few different time zones around the world, she picked up a tree and lots of tinsel, making small stops in between. Pretty soon, the apartment was ablaze with colour and the smell of hot chocolate and pancakes. The blonde stood at the stove in her fluffy pyjama’s as Lena walked in with Nia ten minutes after that.

Lena hadn’t noticed the decoration until she _noticed._ As she looked around, she was taken aback, “This place didn’t look like Santa’s Grotto seven hours ago.” She said as she looked around, even smiling at the tree, “Wow.”

Kara smiled sheepishly as she watched Lena taking in her surroundings, “Is it okay? Do you like it? I just thought that perhaps this is the first Christmas you’ve ever had and…I don’t know if I overstepped-“

Lena then looked at Kara properly, “No, no you didn’t…I love it. You really didn’t have to.” She beamed, “Kara, thank you.”

“I made breakfast too!” Kara said excitedly, “With hot chocolate too. You can eat and stuff whilst I go and change Nia.”  
  
“Oh.” Lena gasped, “Um, thanks Kara, but I think that you have done enough…I think I should change her. It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s far from that, I just…”

“She’s your baby, I get it. You’re super protective, but Lena, you have to let me have some responsibility. Last night for instance, you were so tired, you didn’t function properly. Let me take some responsibility. Please.”

Lena went silent for a moment, closing her jaw, she then nodded, “I’ll change her for now. You can do it for the rest of the day.”

Kara smiled sheepishly, “That’s fine. Alex wants us at her place for two this afternoon. Everyone will be there, but don’t worry, they are all nice.” She beamed before she realised, “You haven’t even met the rest of my family. Rao, I’m so sorry.”

Lena chuckled, “It’s fine. I’m sure they are wonderful. I’ll have breakfast soon.” She smiled before walking off.


	16. If Tomorrow Never Comes

Alex’s apartment, 11am

Kara was sat with Nia in her lap, breast-feeding her whilst Alex, Eliza and Lena were preparing the dinner. Lena was very reluctant to hand Nia over to Kara at all, but over that morning, that task just became a little easier. Kara looked over to the kitchen counter from where she was sat, smiling as she watched everyone busying themselves with dinner preparations. Eliza was peeling carrots and various other vegetables whilst Alex  was already drinking. Mulled wine wasn’t Alex’s style, but whiskey did the job. Eliza frowned at her daughter as she poured her third glass of the liquid, “Alex dear, we are only on eleven, calm yourself.”

Alex pouted, “Mom, it’s Christmas, that should give me the luxury of being able to drink however much I want.” She complained whilst Lena giggled. Alex narrowed her brows, “Why don’t you drink?”

“Me?” Lena asked, surprise evident in her voice. She then smiled, “I can’t drink when I have the little one over there to look after and Kara can’t be the one taking all of the responsibility, we are parents now Danvers, we have to put her first above everything else. Speaking of.” Lena began before turning ninety-degrees on her heel. She frowned at Kara, “You’re very quiet Kara.”

Kara giggled nervously as all eyes were now on her, “I’m just taking in the beauty of our creation and she is also very hungry, this is like the third time today.”

“That sounds like someone we know.” Eliza smiled, looking down at the carrot she currently had in her hand, she then looked at Kara. Eliza was incredibly proud of Kara, she was incredibly proud of all of her family. She could never want anything more or less, “Anyone would think this food is for a family of ten.”

“Well.” Kara began, “We do have J’onn, Winn, Sam and Vasquez coming over plus my appetite.”

Everyone hummed in agreement and Kara frowned, “Wait, were you just all agreeing about my appetite?”

“What appetite?” Lena asked as she held her mug of hot chocolate to her lips. “It’s astonishing, I’ll give you that.”

Alex almost choked on her whiskey. Kara’s eyes widened incredibly, and she blushed heavily. It was then Lena who realized what she said. She sat up quickly as Eliza looked at her incredulously, “Oh…Oh, I never meant that. No, that was Alex.”

“Yes, Alex. I will invite you to keep your mind clean around the child.” Eliza said sternly, “That applies to all of you.” She pointed at the three of them. Kara’s jaw remained opened wide, “I…I never said anything. That was Alex.” She then pouted.

The room fell into an awkward silence before Alex spoke, “Kara, we could use your super speed over here, we still have a lot of stuff to do.”

Lena walked over to Kara and sat beside her, “I’ll put this one in her crib, you can go and help out.” She said as she slowly took Nia from Kara. Kara looked into Lena’s eyes for a moment, she was looking for any distrust or something to tell her that Lena didn’t trust her. She found nothing. The Kryptonian smiled warmly and gave Lena a kiss on the cheek before going to the kitchen. She washed her hands quickly and within two minutes everything was in the oven and beginning to get cooked.

Eliza was going to scold her for using her powers, but she then decided that at this point the super speed was needed because they were not ploughing through the preparation quick enough. It was then that Kara went back over to where Lena was sat. She waited patiently for Lena to come back.

Alex sat beside her in Lena’s spot, “Your text sounded very panicky this morning, what was up?” She asked softly. Kara merely shrugged, “She must have had a weird dream that felt real and so…Time is a weird concept with those dreams. She is fine now though.”

Alex sighed softly, “There is something else. It’s Christmas day, your favourite day of the year and you are not bouncing off of the walls. I know when there is something wrong with you...And yes, while some dreams feel real, there is something else you’re hiding from me. I know you Kara Danvers. I want you to open up to me.”

“Not today Alex.” Kara sighed heavily, “I want at least one normal day before I tell you anything because believe me, when I tell you that you won’t look at me the same again after I tell you this, you won’t.”

Alex then felt dread pool her stomach. She took a deep breath, “It’s about Nia isn’t it?”

“Alex, just drop it, please.” Kara sighed heavily. She looked up as Lena walked back in and plastered a smile on her face, “Hey!”  
  
Lena frowned, “Are you okay?” She knew when something was wrong with Kara but considering these last few days had been very manic, it could be a number of things. So, she brushed off whatever it could be and sat next to Kara where Alex was sitting once before.

“Everything is fine.” Kara smiled as she opened her arms for Lena to sit next to her. Lena got comfortable in Kara’s arms, and they watched TV together. Alex was sat across the room, staring intently at Kara the entire time. Even after Lena had fallen asleep, she still kept an eye on Kara whilst Eliza kept looking in between the two every now and then.  

After two hours, Eliza got up from where she was sitting as Nia began to cry, “Stay there Kara, I’ll sort her.”

As Eliza left the room, both Kara and Alex held each other’s gazes for a moment. Kara could see that Alex was incredibly pissed, maybe Alex had already figured what the secret was or she was just pissed because it was something huge that she was keeping from Lena.

Alex chewed on her tongue slowly as Kara looked away from her. The TV played in the background, neither of them were actually paying attention to it. Lena shifted in Kara’s arms and got comfortable again, not waking at all.

After half-an hour, Kara gently got up as to not disturb Lena. She had enough of Alex’s staring, she needed to get out of the room. Unfortunately for her, Alex followed, picking up her house keys so she wouldn’t lock herself out. She followed Kara down the hall, “You’re running from something.” Alex said coldly, “I know today isn’t the day, but I can’t help but think that you have done something really bad, not to Lena, but to your child.”

Kara leaned against the wall, she had no idea how to look at Alex, her heart feeling like it was going to explode and not for a good reason, “Why can’t you just drop it?” Kara hissed, finally locking eyes with Alex, fighting back tears, “Why can’t you just wait until after today?”

“Because I care about them Kara!” Alex hissed, “Nia and Lena, I care about them as much as I care about you, but I can’t shake the feeling that you, my sister, has or will do something that I can’t forgive her for. So, tell me Kara. Tell me what the hell you wanted to say to me tomorrow. Is it to do with Nia?”

Kara shook her head, “I can’t do this.”

Alex crossed her arms, full of attitude, “So it is Nia.” She said with a cold tone. As Kara refused to answer, Alex walked over to Kara and made sure that she was in Kara’s line of sight, “Tell me what you’ve done.”

Kara swallowed hard before opening her jaw to talk, but no words came out, “I…Alex, can’t we just wait until tomorrow?”

“No, no we can’t.” Alex said to her, “Tell me now.”

Kara looked up at the ceiling praying that someone or something would help her, but right now, it was just her and Alex.

“That…That day we found Nia, in the tank…” Kara began. She ran a hand down her face, trying to stop the tears that were coming, “At first, I thought there was no way that we could save her because all of the glass was made of Kryptonite. I…I saw a huge girder that I could have used to smash the tank open and save her.”

Alex took a step back away from Kara. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Instead…I…” Kara sighed, “I chose not to use it. I could have saved her, but I chose not to.” Tears now streamed down her cheeks more than before as she watched Alex’s inner turmoil.

Alex was trying to comprehend what Kara was telling her, “You’re telling me that…You…You had the chance to save her. You _knew_ you could and you didn’t?!” Just as Kara nodded, Alex pinned her against the wall with all the human strength that she could, “You went against everything you stand for! Lilian didn’t murder her, you did. She was there _begging_ to be saved and you did _nothing.”_ Alex hissed, “She was terrified Kara and you had every chance to save her and you didn’t!”

Kara struggled to find words, she knew as soon as this truth came out, everything would change between her, Alex, Eliza and everyone she knew.

“Alex, no one can find out.” Kara gasped.

“Why can’t they? What are you so afraid of? The future will already happen Kara. You watching her die made that happen.” Alex said to her, “Now get off of my property and _don’t_ come back.”

“Alex-“ Kara gasped.

“Get lost Kara!” Alex snapped before she headed back inside. Kara followed her, hot on her heels, “Alex don’t-“

Lena sleepily rubbed her eyes as she realized what was going on and Eliza was busy feeding Nia once again, but with human baby milk instead. Both women had no idea what was going on, but they were soon about to find out.

“Kara killed Nia.” Alex said outloud. That was hard for Lena to swallow. She got to her feet and frowned in confusion, “Why…why would she do that Alex?”

Alex took her phone out of her pocket and played a recording of what the two argued about outside. Throughout the recording, Kara couldn’t look at anyone. Even Eliza’s normal delightfulness towards Kara seemed to be gone.

Lena sat back down once she had heard the recording, “You had a way to save her and you chose not to?”

“Lena-“ Kara began, before the Luthor raised her voice.

“You had a way to _save_ her.” Lena ground out, before standing once again. “You just chose to watch her die and all the while she was begging for her life!” Lena hissed, “I thought mother could be cruel…I would never expect that from you. Not ever.” There was a moment of silence before Lena made up her mind, “I can’t do this Kara, not now. Now that I know that you are a cold-blooded killer…I can’t.” She sighed, “I want you out of my life and you are _never_ going to see her again!” Lena hissed at Kara, her eyes ablaze, “I think you should leave.”

Eliza glanced at Kara, “Kara…I can’t offer you help…I didn’t think you were capable of that…Turns out, I’m wrong too.” She sighed, “I’m sorry, but Lena is right, you are a killer. There isn’t another way to put it. You let the girl drown when you had a chance to do what was right and yet, you chose not to.” Eliza swallowed the lump in her throat, “You should go.”  
  
Kara looked down at the floor. She glanced at Alex, and knew she wasn’t going to get any help. Instead, she decided to just leave. Before she did that though, she looked at Nia in Eliza’s arms, “Can I…Can I kiss her one more time before I go?”  
  
With that, no one replied, they just stepped out of Kara’s way. Kara had one small moment with Nia, giving her a kiss on her head. She held back tears as she turned to walk away. She didn’t even look back at anyone. Not even her own daughter.


	17. The Right choice

The evening went by terribly slowly for Lena, Christmas was cancelled and all that was left was her, reeling over the confession that she heard eight hours ago. Nia was sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware of what was happening. Alex had gone to bed and Eliza was busy at the lab back in Midvale. There was nothing to stick around for.

Lena sat on the sofa with her legs drawn to her chest, anger building as she fought back tears. Why would Kara let their daughter die when she had the chance to save her? That’ll be an interesting one for Nia to find out once she turned eighteen. She was in a family where the Supers existed, the truth always came out in the end anyway and that’s what terrified Lena. What if Nia learned that Kara isn’t all the super hero she is cracked up to be?

So, as Lena sat there, she thought and thought, and she thought until it became too much. The Luthor climbed to her feet and walked over to the window in the kitchen. There, she caught her reflection in the glass. She looked a mess, and she felt it. She felt like a shard of glass had been pushed through her heart, and the funny thing was, right now, she would want that glass pushing harder because in her eyes, she had no right to be a mother. A Luthor as a parent? Her, as a parent? That was a joke if Lilian ever heard it, only she did, and that’s how she ended up in this situation, here, now.

Lena was snapped out of her thoughts when Nia began screaming and crying. She sighed and dropped her head in frustration, “I can’t do this.” She said quietly to herself, her voice shaking heavily, “I’m no parent.” It was in that moment, Kara-Supergirl appeared outside the window. Lena looked up at her with pure hatred in her eyes. She couldn’t hate Kara more if she tried, “You made this happen Supergirl. You took my daughter away from me.” She said through gritted teeth, only to see Kara biting her lip in return as if she was fighting back some welling up of emotions. It was then, Lena pushed herself off of the counter and walked through to where Nia was screaming and crying.

The Luthor gently picked the infant up, “I’m here, mommy is here.” She said softly to Nia. As Lena looked down in the crib to search for a pacifier or something which would soothe the baby, she heard a floorboard creak behind her, “I don’t know why you are bothering. I told you to leave and yet you still refuse to leave me alone.”

The Kryptonian sighed heavily, “Lena, she is still my daughter-“

With that Lena turned sharply on her heel, “No, you stopped being her mother the day you let her die. She will learn what you did Kara. I don’t care how long it takes, but you are never going to see her again!” She snapped.

“Hey, what’s going on? I heard raised voices and-“ Alex stopped in her tracks. She then crossed her arms, “You have a nerve.”

Kara’s eyes widened, “Come on Alex! She is still my daughter. You can’t stop me seeing her.”

“I can’t, but then again, I really can. What you did is despicable, you took it upon yourself to play God. You can leave.” Alex said, stepping out of the way of the door, “I want you to get out of my sight Kara, now.” She snapped.

Kara sighed heavily, “This isn’t fair.”

“Life isn’t fair.” Lena retorted, “But this one time, you made it not be fair. Now get out and do not come back.”

Kara sighed and looked at Alex for help, but Alex offered no such thing, “You heard her. Leave.”

 

Kara looked back at Nia and did as she was told, slamming the front door behind her.


	18. Scars Run Deep

AN: I may not be able to update before Christmas. This may be the last chapter until new year. I also have a question, do y’all want me to skip ahead in time or not? Everyone, If I do not see everyone before Christmas, I wish everyone good health and happiness into the new year and have a very merry Christmas.

 

New Year’s Eve

Platters of food were put out for the guests that would soon be arriving and despite being told not to eat anything by Eliza, Lena began to take little things here and there to eat for herself. Nia seemed to have an inkling as to what her mother was doing, by the way she giggled at her. Alex noticed the first time and she thought it was the cutest thing ever.

 

“Your child knows what you are up to Lena, she has good senses.” Alex smiled, looking up from her phone, “Winn and James will be here soon and-“

The idea of James made Lena feel sick to the stomach, so much so that she put the cocktail sausage back on her plate, “That man is vile, why would you still be friends with him?”

“Why would you go out with him?” Alex asked with a raised brow. She then noticed how Lena scowled at her, “I was desperate, I was a desperate, sad woman and that is the only type of woman who would go out with a hypocrite like that. Seriously Alex, why’d you have to put me off my food?”

It was then, there was a knock at the door. Lena sighed heavily, “I’m not ready.”

As Alex stood up, she walked over to Lena and placed a firm hand on her shoulder before delicately saying, “Brave Heart, Lena.” With that, she sauntered off to the door. She opened it and as soon as she did, James was stood there. Lena rolled her eyes, “I’m going to bathe the little one!”

James frowned at Alex, “Is…Is Lena avoiding me?”

“Who would want to do a thing like that?” Alex said too enthusiastically.

“Uh, Kara and…Lena.”

Winn looked between the two, “Anyway…Happy New Year’s! I figured Nia might want some baby clothes and the like, so I bought her some clothes and a few toys.” He said with a smile that Alex missed, although she would never actually say that outloud.

“And uh, I brought rum.” James said, holding the bottle up.

Winn frowned at him, “For the baby?”

James looked at him, incredulously, “What? No! I know some of you think I’m stupid.”

“Well, with the way you treat not just women, but people in general, I’m not surprised.” Eliza spoke up, reading a magazine on the sofa.

“Mom!” Alex snapped, whilst she knew her mother wasn’t entirely wrong, this was supposed to be a family occasion.

“Excuse me?” James retorted, “Mrs Danvers, with all due respect, Lena left me!”

“And yet you treated her like crap when she took a target off of your back! And don’t you dare question if she does or doesn’t know love! Of course she does, it’s you who has no idea what love is. You are self-centred and mean spirited, Lena does not deserve you, nor does anyone or any woman deserve someone like you.” Eliza snapped.

Alex stared at her mother in disbelief whilst Winn stood there, awkwardly. James glared at the older woman, before deciding that he should go, “Yeah…I think I should go.” He said, before leaving.

Alex walked over to her mom, “James did not deserve that!”

“Someone had to tell him sooner or later Alex. She knows what love is, what the hell do you think Kara and that child are? They are everything that she loves and he is the one that has no idea! He is arrogant! He is self-centred and does not care about the opinions of others and acts scorned when someone puts him in his place. If there was another universe where James was the same person with a different name, I would imagine that he would be no different either.” Eliza hissed, before standing, “I’m going to check on my granddaughter and my other daughter.” She said, before going to the bathroom to check on Nia and Lena.

Alex turned back to Winn, “I’m so sorry you witnessed that.”

“Oh no, it’s fine!” Winn said, enthusiastically, “Where’s…Where’s Kara?”

“Sit down, I’d better fill you in.” Alex said to him, before taking a place on the sofa herself.

 

In the bathroom, Lena was gently cleaning Nia and she was surprised when Eliza sat beside her, “I heard what you said, about James…You didn’t have to defend me like that.”

“Oh honey.” Eliza said softly, “If he was in a TV show in another world as an actor and the people who ran the show kept him on, I’d honestly want to know why, because no one wants someone like that representing someone who is meant to be kind-hearted and none judgemental. He needed to be put in his place, because you don’t deserve that.”

“I also don’t deserve Kara…” She said quietly, “What do I do Eliza? She killed Nia and whilst Nia is right here in front of me…It’s hard to think that Kara is capable of such a thing. I think now that maybe she had a reason to do it. Maybe she wanted Nia to be reborn again or something…I just don’t understand.” She then sighed frustrated, “I really want to understand why she did it.”

“We all do honey, but then we also, all need time to digest what has been going on here. There is no excuse for what James did to you full-stop and there is no excuse for what Kara did, but at least, perhaps, she may have a reason for that…We just need to let time heal what has happened and maybe one day you both can talk about it.” Eliza said softly, rubbing Lena’s back.

Lena smiled sadly, “Thank you Eliza.”

“You’re welcome honey.”


	19. New Year

Lena stood by the window of Alex’s apartment, cradling a cup of hot chocolate as fireworks lit up the night sky. Whilst going into the new year was supposed to be a celebration of all things great that had happened over the past year and looking toward the future, Lena couldn’t help but think about that very day she begged Kara to save the woman that she knew to be her daughter. A bright purple reflected in her face as a firework exploded outside. She then thought some more, “Sam was there.”

Alex, who was in her own world a moment ago, heard Lena speak. She didn’t quite make out what it was as she was stuck in a daze, “I’m sorry?” She asked. It was then, Lena looked down into brown eyes. Her lip trembled slightly as she thought more and more about the incident, “Sam was there that night. If that girder was so big, the both of them would have seen it. Kara isn’t the only one to blame here. Sam is too.”

Alex hesitated for a moment, “If Sam knew about the girder, I doubt she would have let the incident happen. Lena, you need to start letting this go…It will consume you otherwise.” She then moved over on the sofa, “Lena, come here.” She said softly. She could see that Lena was very hesitant.

“I only bite when people piss me off and right now, you need someone. Please, let me help you.” Alex said in a calm tone. She then watched as Lena gave in. The Luthor walked over and sat beside her, “There is one question I want to ask Kara…Just one, and if I’m being honest, I don’t think I’d ever want the answer.” Tears filled the Luthor’s eyes and Alex could hear the hurt in her voice. She waited a moment before speaking, “What would you ask her?”

Lena hesitated for a moment, “I-“ She paused as she looked down at her steaming mug of hot chocolate. She then laughed nervously, swallowing the lump in her throat. Her face seemed full of hurt, “I’d ask her, why did you let your own child die in such a cold way?” She then shrugged as Alex’s features seemed to fall, “I mean, I get, the wrong timeline stuff, but even so, she was-is her daughter. Nia is our daughter and yet, she let her die. She had the choice to save her and she chose not to. Did you know that drowning is the worst way to die? It hurts way more than burning alive because you can feel your body fighting to stay alive and you can’t do anything. While you can’t do anything, your lungs fill with water and you suffocate.” It was a moment before Lena met Alex’s eyes again, “For anyone to die that way is horrific. Forget that she is our daughter for a second, she let someone suffer like that and that is what is unforgivable on top of the fact that she is our daughter.” There was a moment of silence, “I don’t…I don’t want to talk about this anymore. If I can at least move on, I can do it. I don’t need Kara’s help. I can be a good mother, single or not.”

Alex was going to reply, but Lena stood before she could say anything.

“I’m going to check on my daughter and then go to bed. Thank you, Alex, for everything.” She smiled sheepishly, “Honestly, I don’t know what I would have done without any of you. Your mom is amazing and so are you.”

Alex smiled slightly, “Happy New Year Lena.”

“Happy New Year, Alex.” She smiled before leaving to go and check on Nia.

**AN: Short, I know, but I will not be back until after Christmas. Please leave suggestions or just general comments. I wish everyone a very happy Christmas and hope it is full of happiness and love.**


	20. Ain't no Sunshine

**AN: Happy new year! I will be back at university soon, however, here is a new chapter. Thank you all for reading and I hope everyone had a fantastic new year.**

10th January-New Year

It was a new semester at the university and Lena was feeling confident about the year ahead of her. She wasn’t meant to be at work, but she insisted that she needed to, leaving Eliza to look after Nia for now until she could find a suitable carer. Lena set about her morning, setting up her laptop and getting out various pieces that she needed for the lecture later that morning. The Luthor hummed to herself as she plugged the computer in, smiling to herself as the wallpaper on the screen showed a baby Nia in her mother’s arms. She had many achievements but giving birth to Nia and raising her was the best and it gave her so much joy.

A door closed, and Lena looked up to see who walked in, and to her delight it was Winn. It was certainly a surprise, “Winslow! Hi, they, they let you in?” Her frown grew as he walked closer. Winn merely waved his arm dismissively, “I showed them some ID and I found my way here. I came because pretty soon I’m headed back to New York and I wanted to wish you luck in this new semester.”

Lena smiled with delight, “Why thank you, you didn’t have to come all this way.”

“Of course, I did!” He said cheerfully, “You are my friend, and one of the smartest people on this side of town, oh and, you are the mother to the cutest baby in the universe.” He walked up to the desk where Lena was standing, “I just wanted to let you know that you have people and it doesn’t matter where I am, if you need me, give me a call.”

Lena paused for a moment, thinking about Winn’s kind words. She then leaned forward herself, “Winn…How would you like to be the God Father to Nia?”

Winn straightened himself up, taking a step back from the desk. He was stunned to say the least, that showed with his sudden silence. Lena watched him carefully before waving her hand, “I know, sorry, you have your life and I shouldn’t have brought it up, I’m sorry.”

Winn’s heart skipped a beat, “No, no.” He gasped, “I am just…A little shocked is all. I would be more than happy to do that.” A smile appeared on his face, “I would love to be Nia’s God-Father. I would be honoured. Thank you.”

Lena chuckled, “You’re very welcome. Have a good flight back to New York and…Good Luck on Broadway.”

His smile widened, “Catch you later Lena.”

“Bye.” Lena smiled, watching him leave. She then returned back to the job at hand, typing away at her computer. She was less than impressed when Kara walked in, “Miss Danvers.” She said, not taking her eyes off of the screen in front of her.

Kara nervously pushed her glasses up her nose, “It’s nice to see you…I hope you enjoyed the rest of your break.” The blonde was nervous as ever when Lena’s eyes still didn’t move from the screen.

“My break was okay. It wasn’t the best. Where did you go in the end? Not that I actually care. Why are you here Kara?” Lena asked, almost snapping as she finally looked at Kara.

“I came to say sorry. What I did was out of line, I know that, and I know that I deeply hurt you. I miss my family Lena and I want to start making things right. With you, with everyone.” She then stuttered slightly, “And-and so I thought that to start I would come to you…The mother of my child and my best-“

 

“Former best friend Kara.” Lena interrupted, stopping her immediately, “If you want to see our child, you are going to have to do _so_ much more than what you are now. No one trusts you, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they never did again.”

“Lena, I want to see Nia. I want to see my baby girl. There is no way you can stop me.” Kara said fiercely.

“Oh really?” Lena retorted, “You may be the girl of steel, but I have all of the money that could stop you from ever seeing her. Don’t you ever think you have the upper hand when it comes to her. She is my child and I will protect her any way possible. Do you understand?” Lena had now walked over to Kara and stopped mere centimetres from her face, challenging the blonde. Kara however, backed down, nodding slowly, “Yes, I understand.”

Lena nodded firmly, “Good. Now is there anything else you need?”

Kara sighed heavily and walked off, slamming the door behind her.

The Luthor went back to her computer and looked at the screen, the only reminder that she had Nia lit up on the screen. The only thing that kept Lena going was her new-found family and her daughter.

 

Nia.


	21. The Stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey All, I'm at Uni so work is slow on the fics, but I'm trying my best. Here is a quick one and I need Ideas so please comment and I will see everyone soon!

Kara spent Valentines day on her own, a long month had gone by. January felt like it had lasted for centuries, but here she was in her apartment, sat on her own. Pot stickers littered the table, but her usual appetite had gone. The Super no longer had motivation, not only that but she hadn’t tried for Nia, she hadn’t gone to Lena grovelling, she just left it. Kara hadn’t seen Nia since her birth and despite it eating away at her, it wasn’t consuming her all that much.

The blonde undid her two top buttons on her shirt before grabbing the bottle of wine from the table and pouring her second glass. As she sat back, she stared across the room. There was no one here, just her. “Valentines day.” She snorted, “Just another marketing trick to make money out of people.” She then took a sip from her wine and stared at her phone on the table.

Winn, Alex and Lena hadn’t spoken to Kara in such a long time, Kara was starting to get used to being alone. She’d spent so long in the phantom zone on her own, this was nothing. As Kara grabbed the TV remote from the table, she heard a very timid knock.

That was new.

Who could be knocking so quietly? Who would even want to speak to her?

Instead of using her x-ray vision, Kara got up herself and went to the door. When she opened it, she only froze on the spot. The eyes staring back at her were enough to make her heart stop for a fleeting second.

……………

 

L-Corp- 20:35

Lena sat filling out forms, whilst Nia was across the room in her crib sleeping peacefully. Lena glanced over and smiled to herself before glancing back down at the work before her. It was a painstaking minute before Lena pushed her chair back and got up to walk across to her sleeping daughter.

Once Lena picked Nia up, Nia wriggled in her arms before giggling clearly enjoying being in her mother’s arms. The baby had already started growing brown hair which struck Lena, but her appetite was something that didn’t surprise her because, well, her mother was an alien with a huge appetite. Which reminded Lena, Nia needed feeding. Just as that thought hit her, her phone bleeped. The Luthor huffed as she walked back over to her desk. She frowned heavily at the ominous text message. Alarm set in instantly, prompting her to put the phone to her ear and call the first and only person she had on speed-dial.

………..

Kara’s apartment- 20:40

“You’re not even supposed to be here!” The blonde shouted at her uninvited guest, “This isn’t funny anymore. I lost you, you aren’t real, you can’t be.” She tried to move her wrist as she was pinned to the sofa by the other person who walked in the moment Kara opened the door.

“You ruin one life, I’m not letting you do it again. You need to keep out Supergirl. Stay out of our lives, that way you don’t get hurt and we can all get on with our lives. You not being there for any of us proved one thing, you’re useless and pathetic!” The woman snapped, before raising an eyebrow, “And I’m stronger than you.”

Kara fought back harder, managing to get the person on the floor, “As I said, this isn’t funny. Who are you really?”

The figure laughed at her, “You think this is a pretence? Kara, I’m what you made me, and all I’m here to do is make sure you know that there is a much darker future waiting for you. On the fields of Argo, you’ll return one day and that is where you meet your fate. Nevermind the rest of us whose lives you destroy. Me and Lena, you destroy us because of one secret  that she had to keep hidden from me all my life.”

Kara frowned heavily, “What secret?”

The other person laughed, “You really don’t know? Answer me this, why would you kill your own daughter in cold blood?”

“It wasn’t cold blood!” Kara protested, “The timelines needed to be put right in order for her to be born again, so she could live her life again.”

“And yet she saw her world burn and her mother die! You never gave a damn about what happened after!” The person shouted before Lena burst in through the door.

The place seemed to fall silent in that moment. Lena froze where she was as the person on top of Kara now stared back at her. Lena slowly moved her hand to her pocket to grab a gun, but the person that was beneath Kara, now moved and slowly walked over to Lena, “Mom.” She gasped.  
  
“This isn’t funny. Shape-shifter right? Because I tell you something.” Lena said coldly, “You’re a little slow on the uptake, because my Nia, my Nia was killed by Kara. You’re just a fake.”

The woman stopped in the middle of the room, before getting winded by Kara, “You’re coming with me.” She snarled before dragging the other person with her.

Lena in that moment began to break down. This was all too much even for her, even though she knew that the creature she just saw was, in fact, a shapeshifter. After all, she was Lena, she wasn’t stupid. She knew someone would want to expose her weakness and Nia was that weakness.


	22. Anyone Who had a Heart/Universe

The Next Day

“How did you know?” The first words that left Kara’s mouth as she stood next to Lena in the cafeteria at the university. She watched how Lena glanced at her briefly in the corner of her eye and elaborated, “How...How could you tell that, that version of Nia was…” She shrugged and lowered her voice, “A shapeshifter?” Cautiously, Kara looked around them to see if anyone had overheard at all.

“This is hardly a subject to talk about so out in the open.” Lena replied quickly, “And if you must know, there are forces of nature greater than me that want revenge for what Lex did, so, why not torture me the only way they seem to know?” In that moment, Kara went quiet, nodding slowly at Lena picked up one of the bowls in the dessert section, whilst Kara picked up three, before following Lena to a nearby table, “Lena.” Kara began as she sat down, “If that was the case, why didn’t they come to your place? Why did they come to me?”

Lena frowned, “Wait, so it wasn’t you that sent the message? The SOS?”

Kara laughed, “No, you know me, I can protect myself.” She then frowned, “SOS?”

Lena nodded as she began to eat, “Yes, I got a text message from you saying that you needed help, so I came. But…” She drew off, “Going by this reaction, you didn’t send anything.”

“So, who managed to get a hold of our numbers?” Kara asked, rhetorically. There was a long pause before Kara quickly started talking, “You don’t think the shapeshifter would have-“

Lena lifted her fork, “How else would you have sent a message without your own knowledge? That thing wanted me there, I don’t think it had any intentions to hurt you physically. It had intentions to harm me mentally, but I know better.”

“Lena.” Kara said softly, “You did seem very distressed about it when you saw what looked like an older version of Nia staring back at you.”

“Can we-can we change the subject please?” Lena asked, distress clear in her tone. Kara nodded slowly and went back to eating her own food before a hitched breath from Lena instantly grabbed her attention. The crinkle was out in action along with a frown, “Are you okay there? You, you hesitated as though you were about to say something.”

“It’s just-it said some stuff about the future.” Lena began, “It’s foolish, I know. Because time can be rewritten, and it has…It doesn’t change what you did…But if we know what is supposed to come, we have the ability to change it.”

Kara sighed, “Lena, if you remember what Nia said, she said that time will heal itself and what we know will be forgotten because it will still happen. What we know will be forgotten and the future will still happen.”

Lena dropped her fork, frustratedly, “Where do we go from here Kara? I mean, I keep trying to let myself forgive you, but I can’t. You’re not my partner anymore, or whatever we were. I’m past that.”

Kara sighed heavily, “Lena.” She began as she twisted her fork in her pasta, “I’m…Okay if you move on, if you want to be with someone else, do it.” Kara was lying to herself, but she couldn’t stand to see Lena still suffering anymore, “You can move on, under the terms that I can start seeing Nia.”

Both women suddenly locked eyes with each other. Lena saw love and devotion in Kara’s eyes, she tried to find reservation in her former lover’s eyes, but it was not there. Slowly, Lena looked away, “I thought you would never get over me.”

“I’m _not that_ clingy.” Kara laughed, “Despite how I act sometimes. I just-“ She took Lena’s hand across the table, “I want you to be happy.”

“Thank you, Kara.” Lena said softly, “I appreciate it.”

Kara smiled, “That’s what friends are for.”

There was a long stretch of silence, and in that silence, Kara pulled her hand away from Lena’s hand and the both of them changed their posture. Lena started to giggle in that moment, “Sorry, Intense silences…I’m not good at them…and the last time you said that…It was many, _many_ moons ago.”

“It was a very long time.” Kara giggled, “But anyone who had a heart would let you go, if it means that you get to be happy.”

“But are _you_ happy?” A question that threw Kara so far off, she almost choked on her food. After managing to chew, she scoffed, “Lena, there is no point in being in a relationship in which one isn’t happy. Sacrifices have to be made sometimes for the ones we love and while yes, I still am wildly in love with you, I need to let you go. Lena.” She sighed, “You need to be free. You have a big heart, a universe even and I need to let you create and destroy  just so that you can be happy.”

Lena frowned, “What did you mean by create and destroy?”

Kara shrugged, “I…I may have watched Doctor Who again, I was…I was trying to make a Doctor Who reference.”

Lena then laughed, “Which episode?”

“You know, the one with the Doctor and the invasion of the small cubes. It’s the one where the Doctor has a heart to heart with Amelia before the whole Weeping Angel’s thing.”

“That one makes you sob uncontrollably.” Lena laughed, making Kara blush.

“I _adored_ Amy and Rory, that was a very cruel way to get rid of them.”

“But they still lived out the rest of their lives, just in the past.”

“I _refuse_ to watch that episode, it makes me cry so much.”

“I believe the quote you are looking for is, ‘ _This is one corner… of one country, in one continent, on one planet that's a corner of a galaxy that's a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying, and never remaining the same for a single millisecond. And there is so much, so much to see.”_

 “Yeah, that one.” Kara said pointedly.

“You are ridiculous.” Lena laughed before checking her phone, “Right, I need to go and set up my next lecture…Thank you Kara.” She said as she stood up, “I hope you find someone who loves you as much as I once did.”

Kara smiled sadly, “I hope so too. Have a good day Lena.”

“You too Kara.” Lena said before turning around and heading off with her tray, dropping it off on her way out.

Kara sat quietly, sadness dawning on her. A lump slowly formed in her throat as she began to think of a life without Lena. The only good thing that came out of today was that Kara was now able to see her child without there being much of a problem. The only reservation she had was of who Lena’s future partner might be, and whether they would let Kara see her or not.


End file.
